Initial D Tora! Tora! Tora! volume 2
by margrave-of-the-stars
Summary: Project D continues their US tour by heading to Maine. Fresh off their victories against the Dukes of Windsor most of Project D excited, except Takumi who is now more focused than ever before, in an attempt not to lose again on the trip.
1. Northbound

Initial D Tora! Tora! Tora! Volume 2.

**Disclaimer; **I do not own Initial D, or anything related to it. I do this for the fun and sheer enjoyment of writing about cars and racing.

**Attention! Warning! Achtung! This is the second part in an ongoing series, and continuous plot line. If you haven't read Volume 1, please do before reading this, as it might be difficult to fully understand what it going on.**

Thank you; Margrave-of-the-stars.

Chapter 1 Northbound

Project D was well ahead of her, and she knew it, but that was alright, it wasn't a race, Molly recalled as she blasted down the left lane of the Maine Turnpike, headed for Auburn Maine. She had been sent by Mike to keep a sort of tabs on the foreign team as they continued touring the United States, and with the 302 tucked underneath the hood of her beloved car, cruising at a comfortable speed of 95 miles an hour, she really couldn't complain. Apart from being told she had to try and learn how to drift, for Mike's benefit or her own she didn't know, and not to provide their opponents with information, she basically had a free rein, and with the perfect summers days she had experienced so far, she was sure she would find plenty of time to roam the streets in her convertible. Not to mention staying with Mike's uncle, who had handed the shop over to Mike a year or so earlier, would mean she had great access to everything she needed to tune her car, and to all the inside gossip of the racing scene in these parts.

Mike's uncle lived in Auburn Maine, he had moved there after handing the shop over to Mike a year or so earlier. It didn't take to long to get to Maine at 95 miles per hour, she would be there soon.

•••

Ryosuke pulled out of the parking lot onto Route 4 to do some exploring, the rotary engine in front of him growling quietly. Being late on a Sunday afternoon most businesses were shut down, but the roads were still relatively busy. He headed north in the white FC, and after only a few miles, he could tell he was already going to like the area. Unlike Massachusetts the main roads were two lanes, and had higher speed limits, as they weren't as congested. They didn't seem to be built up as much either in some places, meaning that the team wouldn't have to worry about getting sideswiped by someone coming out of a side street as much. But as he approached the twin cities of Auburn and Lewiston (or what they called cities at least), along the Androscoggin River, the wishful thinking on his part quickly faded.   
Analyzing every part of the road along the way Ryosuke continued his way along Route 4 as it went through the city and then back out the other side, past some parts, and tire stores, gas stations, a small shopping mall, and almost every type of chain restaurant that they had encountered in Massachusetts, then past a row of car dealers before almost everything just disappeared as the road led him along past

•••

"Well it doesn't sound like everything went the way Mike had wanted." Stevie said, leaning back in his chair as he took a long drink from a can of Coke.  
"Yeah," Molly responded, hitting the channel button on the TV remote. "If he hadn't given them the use of the bay we probably would have swept them." She said still agitated that they had lost.  
"But would it have really been a sweep had they tuning their cars in a hotel parking lot?" Stevie asked.  
"No I guess not." Molly said, fake pouting a little bit, "But I hate losing."  
"But you didn't."

"The team did, and that's just as good." Molly protested.  
"Yeah, I know." Stevie responded. "So why did Mike send you up here?"

"He wants me to watch Project D, and to try and see if can't learn how to drift, but I don't know. . ." Molly shrugged, "I'm not supposed to help whoever they're racing against. So I'm not really sure of what I'm supposed to do."

"Well, you don't have to stay completely uninvolved. You could help them, or we could help them. We could invite them to stay here, and if they don't want to do that, we can offer them the use of the garage. We could also help them with the cars they run up against." Stevie offered.

"Then where would you put the Pantera?"  
"I'll just park it outside while their working, and back inside at night." Stevie said.  
"I guess that makes sense." Molly shrugged. She thought about how she was going to talk to them. She never really talked much, at least with people she didn't really know well. She looked at the small TV sitting next to the microwave on the stand. She had almost entirely stopped paying attention as she thought about how to go about getting in contact with Project D. She'd never been able to randomly walk up to someone and start talking to them, and either of the Takahashi brothers would be near impossible for her, with their stoic attitudes. But Mike was counting on her.  
"Hey, go back a couple of channels." Stevie said, snapping Molly out of her trance, "I saw something with cars a couple of channels back."  
Molly changed down a couple of channels to find some NASCAR coverage on an upcoming race. Stevie, as well as owning a 1972 Pantera was also a huge fan of American Muscle cars, they were all over the place when he was growing up, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Growing up in NASCARS heyday had helped fuel his passion for American motoring. Even his daily driver was no normal car, a 1983 Buick Electra Station Wagon, but Stevie had swapped in an Oldsmobile 350 V8, with a slightly warmed up cam, and a four barrel carburetor. It surprised its fair share of Fast and The Furious wannabes.  
"You been to a cruise night lately?" Molly asked, forgetting Project D for the time being.  
"Not lately." He admitted. Molly remembered that some of her and Mike's earliest dates had been to Riley's with Stevie on a Saturday night. She had thought that Mike knew a lot about cars, but Stevie knew far and away more. It was something in their genes, it had to be.  
"Good then, we should go to Roy's on Friday." Molly smiled, it would give her a chance to show off her Tiger to a whole new audience, even though half the people there wouldn't know what they were looking at until they saw the 302 lurking beneath the fiberglass hood.  
Later that night Molly sat out on the front porch staring at the sky above her, a dark blue blanket, pinpricked randomly with stars, the crescent moon suspended against the inky backdrop. As Molly contemplated how much quieter it was, and how the stars seemed much brighter, all of a sudden, somewhere off in the distance she could hear the sound of at least one high performance motor tearing away at the night, no, more likely three of four. It was almost impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from, but she knew it was close by, and it sure as hell wasn't Project D.  
Stevie walked out on the porch sipping a can of Coke. "They're early tonight." He said. "There's a local team that races around here. I don't know how they do it in Japan, but it seems like that almost every town has at least one, but once you get a little further north, there aren't enough kids around to really make teams."  
"From what I understand they do it about the same in Japan." Molly said, not knowing exactly what to say. "I think it also depends on whether there's a mountain nearby. But Project D. . ." Molly paused. "They might as well be all stars, I mean that's essentially what they are."  
"Sounds good." Stevie offered. "That should make for a good race with the Bow Tie Boys."

•••

Four sets of headlights came along the road, ducking into the last parking area before Lake Shore Drive intersected Route 4. The road was exactly what it claimed to be, a strip of two lane black top that followed the shore of Lake Auburn for the most part.

Four V8s rumbled in the night, each one of them with its own almost distinct sound, but to the unfamiliar they were just big V8s. The four cars rolled into parking spots, all in a row, all Chevrolet products, and each car wore a sticker on the rear quarter and trunk lid that was the blue Chevrolet bow tie, inside which was printed Bow Tie Boys.  
After shutting down their cars the drivers stepped out and headed for one of the picnic tables down by the lake. It wasn't more than twenty feet from the small parking lot. The three guys led the way, their sister following close behind. It was clear to anybody who saw them that they were family.  
Bill was the oldest, and the defacto team leader, the rest of his siblings looked up to him; whether it was figuring out how to get out of trouble as kids, or how to attack the turns on Lake Shore Drive, it was clear that he was in charge. He was well built, just under six feet tall, with short cropped dark hair. His younger brother Andy was similarly built, a little shorter and a little wider though. Brian was tall and skinny with longer hair that tended to hang over his left eye. When he wasn't driving of course. Tagging along behind was their sister, Amanda, the youngest of the group. She was shorter than her brothers, with glasses, long dark curly hair which she usually held up with clips. They all had the same pale blue eyes, which their mother had taken to calling the Morrissey eyes.  
"Good practice tonight guys." Bill said, sitting down on the top of the picnic table. Amanda glared at him, but he didn't notice. She'd been driving with them for almost two years now, and he still treated her just as another one of the guys. She'd always had to work harder to impress her brothers, ever since she was a little girl, she always had to work harder just to get her brothers to let her play, and now that they were driving as a team, it was no different.  
Of course it had been a good practice, especially from Bill, as he'd been driving Lake Shore for almost six years, and been the man to beat for the past two at least. There practices usually consisted of a couple of solo runs per person, and then they would end up playing four rounds of keep up, where each member took a turn at the front of the line, and would try to outrun each other. Either Bill or Andy usually won, they had the best suited cars for the road. Bill drove a 1967 Corvette convertible, it was well balanced, and the independent rear suspension provided good handling. Andy on the other hand had the best car to attack the course, a 1966 Corvair, but he never seemed to be able to keep up with his older brother, even though his Corvair was a long way from how it actually left the factory. It had been a long project , but the finished result was something to behold. For starters the old rear mounted flat six cylinder was removed, along with the rear suspension, this made way for a mid mounted Chevrolet 350 V8, which hooked up to a regular four speed transmission, and a Corvette rear suspension to replace the old swing axle version. It wasn't the only Corvair to be modified like that, but it was the only one in the area. Almost nothing could keep up with it on Lake Shore, with the motor in the middle there was almost nothing to compete with it  
"Alright, it's time we head out of here and get some sleep." Bill said, as he headed back towards his car.

"We have to be ready to race at any time." They all followed him back to their cars and headed for home   
Lately there were fewer and fewer real challengers. It didn't seem like any of their opponents even practiced on Lake Shore. It showed in everything they did, whoever they had raced lately just got smoked. But the Bow Tie Boys kept practicing, honing their skills and waiting for the next opponent to come along. 

•••

Takumi sat quietly in his car, thinking. It was dark and quiet out, allowing him to feel alone, even though the rest of Project D was just inside the hotel not far from where he sat.. He needed to be alone right now. He didn't really mind sharing a hotel room with Fumihiro, Kenta and Nakazato, but since he'd raced Mike he kept thinking of how he could have won, but with Nakazato and the others always in the room it was difficult for Takumi to concentrate. In the 86 it was much easier, he was alone.  
As soon as Takumi closed his eyes the race would start to replay itself over and over again in his mind, every turn, every pass, every maneuver. He scrutinized everything, all the possibilities flew through his head, if he'd kept a tighter drift in one place, if he had straightened the line in another, could he have won? Would it have gained him that extra couple of seconds to stay ahead of Mike? The last drift; had he carried that a little to far. . .  
No! He had done it exactly like he had done in practice, exactly what he was supposed to, it had been a perfect drift. There was nothing he could have done to win that race, accept drive faster, go faster; he needed to be faster he knew that, the outcome had proved it. Even though Ryosuke had told him that he turned in the fastest time from Project D that night, that there was really nothing he could have done differently to win that race.  
As he sat there in his trusty 86 he thought back to some of the things his father had said, skill could only take you so far in an underpowered car, if you wanted to get faster he had to get a faster car. Takumi knew that a new car wasn't an option at that point, they didn't have the money, not to mention the fact that he didn't want to give up the 86. It had essentially been the only car he'd driven for more than six years, it was almost a part of him, replacing it would be like amputating an arm, or a leg. The car was as much a part of him as any one of his fingers or toes.  
That meant, for the time being, the only way to win was to go faster in practice, to go faster in the race. His dad was wrong, the 86 was fast enough, and always would be, he had the skill to make up the difference. If he went faster in practice he would be able to push the limit when it came time to race. He had to win to prove that he belonged with Project D!  
Without even realizing what he was doing, Takumi fired up the 86, and headed out of the parking lot. He didn't really know where he was going, but he just wanted to drive, to get his mind sorted out. There was something about the sound of the motor that always seemed to calm him down, to clear his mind. After the years of racing and driving, it had become something very familiar to him.

As he sat at a stop light on Route 4 a purple Honda Civic coupe rolled to a stop next to him. Takumi remained completely oblivious until the other driver revved the motor, causing the turbo blow off to snap. Takumi looked over to see a girl in her early twenties sitting in the car next to him. She had long light brown hair, and stared at him from the driver's seat. She revved the motor again, making a face as she tried to goad Takumi into a race.  
Takumi turned forward looking at the stretch of road ahead of him. Even though it was night there were still far to many places for cars to just pop out of on both sides of the road. He didn't rev his motor in response. Again the other driver revved her motor, trying in vain to goad Takumi into a race. Again he looked over at the other driver, who gestured with her hands. Takumi looked back up in time to see the light turn green, there was a sudden roar and the sound of a turbo spooling up as the car next to him launched hard. Takumi knew better than to race that way, it proved nothing really, only that you could go fast in a straight line, it took no skill, required no real technique, it was really just a way for someone else to feel like they had won without really being a driver.  
Takumi found the next parking lot before turning around, and heading back to the hotel before his team noticed he was missing, not wanting to be involved with anymore posers. 

•••

"What?" Keisuke interrupted his older brother who was still in the process of explaining his plan. "It won't work Aniki." He said, knowing full well that it probably would work; Ryosuke's plans had a knack for working out.  
"It will work." Ryosuke said assuredly, continuing in his cool modulated voice. "There's a burger stand on the other side of the city that has a Cruise Night on Friday. If any of the competition around here drives American performance cars the way Mike's team does they will most likely be there on a Friday night."  
"Alright, I got that part." Keisuke said, getting a little impatient.  
"You remember the other night, how we walked around Riley's with cameras, and nobody really paid us any special attention." Keisuke nodded, of course he remembered, it was just the other night. "That gives us the perfect opportunity, we can show up there in one of the vans, or on Takumi's 86, and nobody will really notice. Allowing us to walk around and take pictures of the cars, and talk with the drivers about what they've done. And I'm sure you can see the advantage in that Aniki."  
"But Mike said that they don't setup races at these Cruise nights, that its just an excuse to show off their cars." Keisuke responded.  
"Right, which is why we go. The people who race won't be looking for people to race, so their guard will be down, the pictures will at least help us study the cars somewhat before we have to face them."  
Of course. Keisuke thought, Study, practice, analyze, all the problems of the world could be solved by those three things according to his older brother. But it usually paid off in the end. Keisuke lay back against the pillow on the bed, Ryosuke was right, it would be very easy for them to collect data on possible opponents.

Then there was the matter of Takumi, he had lost to Mike, and regardless of how much Keisuke had come to respect the kid, the old rivalry still burned deep inside him, making it impossible to not take at least some joy out of the kid's loss. It didn't help that Ryosuke, his own brother seemed to pay more attention to the kid. But the competition had really stopped between them long ago as they were both working towards the same goal, and that was the domination of Japan's street racers with the ultimate goal of becoming professional street racers. The old rivalry had faded into the background as they had become teammates, but still it was nice to know the kid was human.

•••

Amanda crept out the back door of the house and headed for her silver Nova. The sun was just about ready to come up. Some people, actually a lot of people had criticized her for turning a Nova into a road machine, it seemed like every punk kid with a Honda Civic thought there was nothing that could be done to make an American car to perform. Boy did she like seeing their faces at the end of the race.  
She nestled into the Recaro bucket seat, the door shutting behind her with a sort of tin can rattle, because, to be honest, the Nova wasn't the best piece of machinery to ever wear the Bow Tie. But it got the job done, and she wasn't the only person to turn heads with a modified Nova, they were light and could take almost any of the motors offered from Chevrolet, they just really needed good suspensions.  
The bucket seat held her close and firmly in position. She fastened the four point harness before inserting the key, and turning it to the "ON" position. She didn't start it. The rest of the family was still asleep, and the motor firing was liable to wake them up. Applying pressure to the brakes she released the parking brake. When she put the clutch in the car started to roll back down the drive way to Route 4. Near the bottom of the hill she slowly released the clutch until the motion from the driveline forced the engine to kick over and fire. The mighty 350 rumbled to life as Amanda sat at the end of the driveway, allowing the oil to move through the galleys as the motor warmed up.  
Once warmed she flicked on the lights, and with the roar of the motor, and the scream of tires Amanda launched hard down Route 4, laying down twin strips of rubber. So much for not waking her brother. She'd been doing this for the entire spring and summer, as she continued to try and prove herself to her brothers. It was looking good, no one had been able to beat her since the last fall, and her times were getting quicker and quicker on Lake Shore Drive. It would only really be a matter of time before her brothers would see it.  
Lake Shore Drive wasn't far from their house. Decelerating slightly Amanda threw the Nova onto the side street, tires squealing at the limits of their adhesion. She planted her foot on the gas pedal, stepping out the rear end slightly as she took the turn, beginning another of her practice sessions. She was determined to be one of the best racers in the area, to make her brother see how good she had


	2. First Contact

Ryosuke sat at the small table in the hotel room. The morning sun was just beginning to filter in through the slightly opened shades. In the background low tones from the television mixed with the sounds of Keisuke's snoring. Ryosuke rubbed his eyes, sleep, a luxury he hadn't gotten much of last night. Sometimes he envied his brother.

A regularly recurring thought had crept back into his mind as he lay awake in bed the night before. Takumi and the 86. Even though the young Ace had done well in his battle against Mike he had lost, and though the loss had been no fault of his own, the kid was still feeling down, even though Ryosuke had assured him his technique was almost perfect, and there had been no dirty tricks.

This new town and new competition would be a good opportunity to get on the kid about it again, even though their options were limited. There were only a few cars he could use, and most of them weren't good choices. Nakazato's GT-R was possible, but although it was fast, it was heavy and had all wheel drive and that would take some getting used to for Takumi. As far as weight was concerned Kenta's S-14 would be the best choice, but it was still underpowered, especially concerning what they might be running up against. It really wouldn't stand a chance, even with Takumi at the wheel. To be honest, it would be like taking a step backwards. That meant there were only two real choices, either the FC or Keisuke's FD. Aside from those, the GT-R was probably the best decision, and Takumi did have experience with all wheel drive, but the ATTESA system fitted to the GT-R were different from what Subaru had to offer. It was a tough choice, but ultimately, one only Takumi could make. It all came down to his choice, but the kid most likely wouldn't venture outside his comfort zone, he would go for one of the RX-7s, Ryosuke knew it.

But Takumi needed to grow, he needed to move outside of his comfort zone if he was going to realize his full potential as a driver. Ryosuke knew it was his job to push Takumi, and to lesser extent Keisuke, to the limit. He had so much natural talent it would be a shame to see it go to waste because the kid refused to give up an old 86 that was almost as old as he was. He still had a long way to go, but if he could just clear this one last hurdle, the biggest of them all, he would have it made.

•••

"Bill!" The unmistakable voice of Bill's father followed the knocking at his bedroom door. "Come on we gotta head to the track."

Bill cracked a heavy eyelid and looked at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand. The red numbers stared back at him, shit, it was only half past five. "Ugh." Bill grunted. Sometimes he hated going to the track, especially this early in the morning. In fact it had stopped being fun a long time ago, about the time he had gotten his drivers license, and had discovered Lake Shore Drive.

For as long as he could remember his father had been trying to turn him into a professional driver. Particularly NASCAR, but it wasn't something Bill wanted to do any more. He still loved to drive, especially his Corvette. He loved the feeling of the car responding to his every movement, and the way it sounded as they swept through Lake Shore's twists and turns as one. At the track things were so incredibly different, they were always wanting to change a setting on the car, or the tire pressure, or something that only made a slight difference out on the track, in fact compared to the bond he shared with his Corvette, so to speak, the car he drove at the track felt foreign, and he often struggled to connect to it's ever changing attitudes.

It wasn't really his fault, except for being born first, it was just the luck of the draw. His father had been a good amateur stock car racer when he was younger, and still maintained that he would have gone pro if it hadn't been for that one wreck late in the season. Back before he had even had kids, before he had even thought of getting married he was racing at one of the local tracks. Apparently NASCAR scouts had come to watch him, and see if he had what it took to move up to the next level. The scouts, as Bill's father always said were working for some big time sponsor, it would have made his career in racing, or at least that's what he believed. Towards the end of the race he was in the lead, with the second place driver close behind. Seeing that they were closing in on the checkered flag, Bill's dad didn't stop for fresh tires, just gas so he could get back on the track in good position. He had been doing and excellent job of blocking the second place driver, but with two laps to go, he moved hard to block on the high side, pushing his car into the marbles at the edge of the racing line. The already worn, and compromised tires wouldn't have anymore of it, the left rear blew out, sending the car out of control to smack into the wall at 130 miles per hour.

The impact broke his knee, and the scouts were not impressed with the lack of judgment that had been demonstrated. The following season Bill's father was back behind the wheel, but this time no scouts were watching, and he never raced the same way again. He had always maintained that it was his left knee being broken that had made him uncompetitive.

Bill knew the truth lay someplace other than what he had always been told as a kid. Sure his father still limped from the results of the crash, sure his knee didn't work the way it was supposed to, and it made it difficult for him to manipulate a clutch and considering the way his knee was it would have made it damn near impossible to deal with the clutch in a stock car properly. But there was another factor; his old man was probably scared of wrecking again, and the broken knee provided him the perfect excuse to stop racing. And now that his dream had been shattered he was going to try his damnedest to get his son to make it for him, because he obviously still regretted his mistakes.

Lately it had been getting worse, his father wanted more and more for Bill to give up street racing. His excuse was that it could get him injured, or landed in jail, but what it really came down to was the fact that Bill was spending more and more time street racing, and it took away from practice time at the track.

Bill heaved himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. He still wanted to race, and race professionally, but not on the ovals and super speedways his father had in mind, not in NASCAR, where they were constantly turning left all the time. He wanted to race Trans-Am, or the American Le Mans series, on the road courses with cars that had real suspensions, and to Bill, Lake Shore Drive offered a much better approximation then any of the small stock car tracks. Maybe it was time to stand up to his father, and pursue his own dreams.

He opened the door anyway, and headed to the truck and trailer waiting in the drive way. Looking at the small amount of excitement on his fathers face at the thought of going to the track made him pause for a second, and have second thoughts, he couldn't tell his father yet, he couldn't bear to make him suffer any more. 

•••

Stevie hadn't woken by the time Molly had left the house, though she supposed he didn't have much to wake up early for Molly reflected as she blasted down Lake Shore Drive headed towards Route 4. She was glad to see that the road was nice, freshly paved, with numerous turns, and hills, and some good straight sections as well.

She wasn't out to set the record for a time trial, but Molly still went fairly quickly down the road, only occasionally eliciting squeals from her tires as she threw the car a little more enthusiastically through some of the nicer corners. She downshifted going up the small slope running past Taber's hot dog stand, and as she neared the crest of the hill she spotted a silver Nova heading in the opposite direction, and boy was it moving.

It was almost impossible to tell the year, or who was driving because of the speed at which they passed each other, but Molly knew there was only one team a Nova would belong to, well as far as she knew anyways. She thought about it more as she headed back towards the downtown area, looking for a place to eat breakfast. It had to be a member of the Boy Tie Boys, but who would practice in the daylight, and if it was a member of the team, where were the rest of them? It didn't matter, she finally decided, so what if someone was out getting a little extra wheel time, she'd would have to start doing that soon.

Turning her attention to a more pressing matter, Molly found a small diner and parked out front, locking the Tiger and heading in to get some breakfast. After a meal of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, Molly walked out of the diner to find a silver Nova parked on the opposite side of the Tiger, the owner, another girl, about her age, leaning against the car. Her arms crossed over her chest. Molly gave a half hearted glare in her direction. She had been followed, and now this other driver had waited for her. Molly tried to pay as little attention as possible to the other person, refusing to acknowledge her for the relatively rude gesture.

"Nice car." Amanda said as Molly climbed in.

"Thanks." Molly responded coldly from the driver's seat. It was one thing get complimented about your car in the racing world, it's another matter entirely to be hunted down.

"It's not everyday we see a Sunbeam Tiger around here." Amanda continued, ignoring Molly's cold tone.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too." Molly answered indifferently; she twisted the key and the 302 burst into life.

"260, or 289?" Amanda asked

"Neither, 302." Molly answered over the burble of the engine, this time though she looked up at her inquisitor, and found her to look like one of the most unassuming people she could possibly meet. She looked almost like a librarian, except she wore jeans and a zip up fleece.

"Ahh, that's happy. I'm Amanda" She answered, moving off of the Nova and offering a hand to Molly.

"I'm Molly," The other driver replied, extending her arm over the passenger seat. "I'm not used to seeing Novas done up for road racing, I'm used to stop light drag cars. Definitely not what I saw you doing earlier." Molly looked the car over, it was straight, and the paint was good, real good. The team sticker of the Bow Tie Boys was displayed proudly on the rear quarter panel but she didn't say anything, it might come in handy in the future, possibly allowing her to get close and dig for information on the Bow Tie Boys.

Glancing at the time and revving the Tiger's engine slightly, Molly waved slightly, "It was nice to meet you, but I have to be going." she said, notching the shifter into reverse and rolling out of the space as the other driver smiled in return.

Amanda watched as the dark, metallic blue convertible disappeared into the traffic. She could still hear it long after she lost sight of it. It really wasn't everyday that someone showed up with a Sunbeam Tiger, especially someone who drove the way Amanda had seen earlier. She probably raced. It would be interesting to see if she would race her on Lake Shore Drive. Amanda smiled as she climbed back into her Nova, the distinctive notes of the Tiger having faded, yes, it would be very interesting indeed.

•••

Keisuke made his way across the parking lot towards his yellow FD. He smiled as he approached, sometimes when he looked at his car he couldn't help but smile, the body kit, the hood, the wing, they all helped make the car go, and they had the added bonus of just looking plain cool too, a childish streak he refused to show in front of Fujiwara. He jumped in and fired up the twin rotor engine, sitting and enjoying the vibrations and tone of the engine for a few seconds, letting it calm him slightly. He couldn't help being restless, they'd been waiting around for too long, and there was only one more day before they would be at the cruise night, and soon after that they'd be gearing up for the upcoming races.

Releasing the clutch and touching the throttle he was finally off. Ryosuke had been out and done some very preliminary scouting, and with that in mind Keisuke headed towards the center of town. The only other thing he needed besides to stretch his legs and get out of the stuffy hotel was some real food. The hotel food wasn't bad, but he knew there had to be better food somewhere close by. He rocketed down the road, blowing past the slower traffic in the right lane, smiling as he shifted, feeling the shifter click into place, and the fresh surge of power. He wasn't going terribly fast, but it was just fun to lean on the gas and bang a couple of gears every now and then. Eventually of course he had to slow down for traffic, and stop lights.

While sitting at one of the stoplights he saw a rather busy restaurant sitting diagonally across the intersection, boasting signs for some of the American food he had become fond of while over there. It was really as good a place as any. Keisuke snapped his head around when he herd a motor rev on a downshift, a strong motor, sounding vaguely familiar. A small blue convertible rolled to a stop next to him, the top down. Keisuke knew he'd seen that type of car before, and it finally hit him, when he looked at the driver. It was a girl, with longish black hair. It was Molly from Medway! As Keisuke stared with his mouth open Molly looked at him and grinned.

She had known all along that it was Keisuke. How many other people had an RX-7 that looked like that?

"You know green means go." She laughed at Keisuke over the noise of the traffic. She pointed to the traffic light to make her point before accelerating away.

Keisuke waved absentmindedly out of the window as he too pulled away from the light and into the parking lot on the other side of the intersection. Never in a million years had he expected to see anyone from Medway again. He put the thought out of his mind, Ryosuke did say that Mike had family in the area.

After his meal Keisuke came back out to his car and fired it up, noting that the fuel gauge was just a few millimeters shy of empty. That wasn't going to last him long, he knew. RX-7s never did well on fuel economy, even when brand new, and there was no way that the modification done to his FD helped that situation at all. There weren't any service stations between him and the hotel, except for the one just past it, but he knew he might not make it that far. The last thing he wanted was to have to call Ryosuke or someone to bring him a can of gas. It would only lead to another lecture from Aniki, he knew it.

Moving easily so not to waste any more fuel, Keisuke pulled out of the parking lot, his belly full unlike the FD's gas tank. He went right, the opposite direction from the hotel, knowing there had to be a gas station around somewhere. He was right, not far down Route 4, he spotted a number of gas stations, but not having a lot of gas meant he couldn't be too picky about where he went. Keisuke pulled into the first gas station he saw. He grumbled to himself about having to pump his own gas and just as he was about to push the button to select the grade of gasoline, he stopped, hand hovering only a few millimeters away from the black 93. Stepping back Keisuke looked at the pump, and the others around him, noting with disgust that 93 was the highest octane rating.

"Do you need help pump three?" A voice blared over the loudspeaker.

"Yeah, where's your high octane?" Keisuke said, his arms spread out to the side in despair.

"It's right there at the pump, sir." The voice blared again.

"You mean this 93 crap." Keisuke said, beginning to get frustrated.

"Yes, sir, that's the highest we have."

"Well where can I get some 102 octane." Keisuke asked angrily.

"Nowhere around here."

"Fine!" Keisuke all but punched the button and began to fill his car.  
Great now they had to find another place to get real high octane gas.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_Alright, sorry it took so long to update, but there is still more coming. First of all, I really want to thank cricketchick1990, for being my beta, she does such an excellent job checking my grammar, and spelling and working out kinks. Not to mention the fact that everything she does is helpful, and doesn't alter what I originally wanted from any part of the story. And also thanks for hanging in there, and being patient while we straighten things out and get them up to standard._

_Thanks a ton Margraveofthestars._


	3. In the Presence of the Enemy

sChapter 3 In the Presence of the Enemy.

I dedicate this chapter, and the rest of story to the memory of my grandfather, his humor and views of cars have helped to shape my passion for the automotive world, and helped to keep my mind open to all the diverse cars that populate the world, and the different takes on performance.

"You saw who?"

"Molly, that girl from the shop." Keisuke repeated, moving to sit down on one of the beds in their twin room.

"You mean the shop in Medway?" Ryosuke asked, closing his laptop and spinning around on his chair to face his younger brother.

"Yes, I think she was Mike's girlfriend." Keisuke replied, rolling his eyes a little at his brothers poor memory for anything that didn't relate to cars.

"And you're sure it was her?"

"Oh come on Aniki." Keisuke said, exasperated. "How could I mistake her? How many people would be roaming around up here in one of those cars with Massachusetts plates?"

"Alright. Mike did say he has family in this area." The elder Takahashi brother leaned back in his chair crossing his arms as he thought. Why would Molly be here? Perhaps she and Mike were vacationing with family, but Keisuke hadn't mentioned seeing Mike's Cobra, or any of the other members of the Dukes of Windsor for that matter. It was something else entirely, and he knew it, but what? Ryosuke's supercomputer brain arrived at the most likely conclusion just as Keisuke began to speak.

"Aniki." He said slowly. "Do you think that she is here to spy on us?" Keisuke finally voiced what had been his suspicion all along.

"I think so." He responded, but it still didn't make much sense. Ryosuke hadn't planned on challenging the Dukes of Windsor again, they had proved their point the first time. The only thing that would change this though would be if Mike showed up soon, he might be looking for a rematch for his team mates. Even though he could just be visiting family.

Keisuke looked across the room at his brother, knowing they were both working on the same thing. "What do we do Aniki?" Keisuke finally asked.

Ryosuke did not answer right away, his eyes narrowing under his dark hair. "If she is really here to spy on us, than we can use it to our advantage, if not, than we have nothing to worry about. Either way I don't believe we'll have to wait long to find out." Ryosuke said.

Keisuke looked at his older brother with a confused look on his face.

"Alright." Ryosuke began, "North on Route 4, on the other side of the city there is a small hamburger stand, with a driving range, mini golf, and some batting cages. On Friday night however, they have a cruising night. If the locals around here race American performance cars, like Mike's team, I believe they will show up for the cruise night. I also think Molly will show up. Either way, the cruise night gives us an opportunity to scout the competition, as long as we keep a low profile. So that means we have to take one of the Project D vans, and possibly Takumi's 86. That way there won't be any attention drawn to us."

Keisuke nodded in response, somehow Project D had taken on an espionage element. But it was true. If they were to show up at a cruise night with a GT-R, a bodykitted FD, and a carbon fiber bedecked 86 they would turn heads, and immediately be seen as a threat.

"If Molly shows up we can also talk to her, maybe she can help us gain some info on at least the cars of our perspective opponents."

"Alright, but how do we know she's going to help us?" Keisuke asked.

"We don't, but I think it's safe to say that she will at least give us info on the cars. She can't have been here longer than we have, and if so not by much. She wouldn't have had enough time to deal with the teams around here. She knows us, and sometimes that's half the battle."

Keisuke nodded, pushing himself off of the bed and heading towards the door, intent on finding the other members of the team, "Oh and Aniki?"

Ryosuke nodded for him to continue, half turning to face his laptop again and opening it.

"I found another problem."

Ryosuke looked back at his younger brother with the same cool calculating stare he always seemed to have on his face. "What now Keisuke?"

"They don't have high octane gas around here. I had to buy that 93 crap." Keisuke spat out the last word, openly showing his disgust for the inferior gas.

"That's not good, we'll have to retune the cars." Ryosuke said thinking about how little of the coveted 102 octane now rested in the gas tank of his FC.

"Do you think there's anywhere around here that we could get good gas?"

"I don't know." Ryosuke said, frowning . "You remember how hard it was to find in Medway. And even then, Mike was the only one who had it."

"I know." Keisuke replied, it definitely didn't look good.

* * *

Bill climbed in through the window of the race car for safety reasons it was the only way in. The car only vaguely resembled a road car, and was painted black with a handful of sponsor stickers affixed to the body work. The Chevy V8 in front of him sat at a lumpy idle, the lack of muffler in the exhaust system amplifying the noise of the motor..

'I don't like this car.' Bill thought as he set about fastening the racing harness, and fully enclosed racing helmet. 'I would much rather be driving my Corvette.'

He was snapped out of his thoughts as his dad, a.k.a the crew chief thumped the roof above him, almost sending his son through it in surprise.

"Everything good Bill?" He yelled over the rumble of the motor, unable to see the glare that Bill shot his way through the reflective eyeshield, responding with a thumbs up anyway, not willing to have an argument this early in the morning.

"Good now remember this is only practice, so don't push it to hard. Just feel it out so we can deal with any problems without having to rebuild the car." Again Bill gave a thumbs up, secretly fuming under the helmet, of course he wouldn't push it too hard, it not like it was the first time he'd been behind the wheel. He notched the shifter into first gear, waiting for the official to give him the go ahead.

After an age, the official finally dropped the flag, and Bill stabbed the gas and popped the clutch. The mighty Chevy small block roared, the rear tires squealed, briefly engulfing the pit crew in a cloud of smoke. He rocketed down pit lane and out onto the small oval track. It was true that he shouldn't push the car, but if he didn't push it at all it made it really hard to diagnose possible issues before qualifying. After five laps of going about three quarter speed, he stepped it up for the final few laps. At about 85 percent Bill noticed the rear end was starting to get squirrelly, and a little bit later there was a significant loss of power at about 4500 RPM. This wasn't good, it meant the carb was having issues. It had been a good practice, but all it did for Bill was reinforce his love for his Corvette, with its real suspension and fuel injection. He didn't want to race like this anymore, but he was obligated by his father, and to the sponsors who helped fund the season.

Finally he was able to pull into the pits, stopping perfectly on the line, before he shut down the motor, and hauled his tired body out.

* * *

"How'd it do Bill?" His father asked.

"I think it could use a rear track bar adjustment, a little lower tire pressure on the left rear and the carb needs to be re-jetted."

"You think? Why don't you know Bill? This is serious, if you don't do well it will hurt your future, we could lose our sponsors!" Bill's father yelled, annoyed at the denseness of his son.

"Fine, I know. Re-jet the damn carb caus' it was starved for fuel at 4500 RPM, and the rear end started to break loose as I pushed a little harder. So adjust the track bar, and lower the left side tire pressure!" Bill spun on his heels and stomped off towards the truck ready to leave already.

"Hillside Auto" Mike answered the phone with a sigh, and right away Molly could tell by his voice that he was a little out of sorts.

"Hi Mike, it's me."

"Oh, hi, have you been able to get in contact with Project D?" Mike found himself relaxing a bit at the sound of Molly's voice, and covered one ear with a grease stained hand, trying to block out some of the noise coming from the shop.

"No, but I did see Keisuke the other day, but he was alone."

"Oh." Mike answered, in the background Molly could hear an impact wrench, and grimaced, knowing she had disturbed Mike in the middle of working in the shop.

"Pretty busy down there?" Molly asked.

"Yeah without you to handle the paper work, and to help out with the pumps when we get a rush it's pretty hectic, not to mention we get some local high school punk looking for a race every five minutes after 2 o'clock."

"Sounds like fun." Molly answered. "I was just calling to check in. I'll let you know when I get to talking with the Project D guys."

"Alright, I gotta get going babe, love you."

"Love you too." Molly answered before hanging up the phone.

Through the open door in the kitchen that led out to the barn Molly heard the engine of Stevie's Pantera turn over and roar to life. Intrigued, Molly walked to the door. The back was open exposing the Webered 351 Cleveland, and transaxle, with a lumpy idle, and just a hint of black smoke coming from the four exhaust trumpets. Stevie appeared on the driver's side, and Molly watched as he leaned over the rear fender and gave the carburetor linkage a tug. There was a quick puff of black smoke which quickly disappeared as the motor came on cam. The radical cam Stevie had installed led to the lumpy idle and the black smoke, from running too rich at idle so the motor would not be starved at higher RPM. Once it got going the motor would need every drop of gasoline.

"How's she running Stevie?" Molly asked as her eyes took in every inch of the cars sultry shape. What a wonderful no nonsense car. It was among the first generation of Supercars, behind the Lamborghini Miura, and just ahead of the Ferrari 365 GT 4 BB. The spiritual descendant of Ford's famous GT-40, without the racing pedigree.

"It's doing real good." Stevie answered, still fiddling around with the carbs. "I just wish I got to use it more, not really something I can take down to the Auburn Mall, or to the big apple for a gallon of milk."

"But Stevie, you have some of the best roads around here, what about going over to Rumford?"

"I know." Stevie admitted. "But I don't usually get to haul off to Rumford or Portland all the time."

"Yeah," Molly answered, knowing that if she, Mike, John and Fox didn't race they wouldn't use their cars as much as they did. But Molly could not even think about using another car except for winter driving.

"I figured if we're going to Roy's tonight I should at least make sure it's running right." Stevie said.

"I'd say it runs right." Molly said, smiling a little at the thought of what scene they were going to make, a Pantera and a Sunbeam Tiger, coming in together. The locals were going to be in for a surprise. It would be fun to make an entrance like that, fashionably late, but Stevie had another idea however. Being late only meant that they might miss some of the cars that showed up for the start of the show. It would allow them to get some food before most of the cars showed up though.

* * *

Molly and Stevie were among the first few cars to show up at Roy's, just before 5 o'clock that afternoon. There were some definite advantages to showing up early , it ensured that the two could park together, and allowed them to get food before the lines got too long. Most importantly though, it allowed them to see cars coming in and take note of what might be the most interesting cars to take a look at later.

Molly was just about to pop a French fry into her mouth when from behind her she heard the roar of a high performance motor on a downshift, the sound was different, but unmistakable, it was a V8, a big V8. Molly turned as fast as she could, and was surprised to see a maroon 1962 Ford Galaxie two-door. The car itself was very unassuming, a plain-Jane two door with black steel wheels and dog dish hub caps. The roof was the antithesis of aerodynamic, essentially a box over the passenger compartment, completely unlike the sports roof that followed in 1963. But the sound the emanated from the dual exhaust and the clatter of the solid lifter cam belied all preconceived notion of how the car should perform. Molly watched as the beast backed into the spot next to her Tiger.

"Wow, did you hear that thing?" Molly asked, only half turning around to face Stevie, fearing that if she took her eyes off the car it would disappear.

"You should see it run." Stevie responded nonchalantly, as if seeing such a beast on the road was an everyday thing for him.

Molly looked back at him with a cocked eyebrow, knowing that Stevie knew all there was to know about that car and most likely was involved with the owner in some way. She picked up the little container that had the last few fries in it and deposited it in the trash as she made her way back towards the Tiger, and the new comer as well as the crowd that had quickly gathered around the Galaxie.

With her small stature Molly was able to make her way though the shifting throng of car enthusiasts to be near the front when the driver opened the hood. He was an older man, probably in his 60's, with grey hair and a beard. He just ignored the people peppering him with questions, placating them every so often with a "You'll see."

The hood went up without so much as a creak. Molly stood on top toe, while trying to keep a respectful distance while the owner went about his work. She caught a glimpse of the carburetion and immediately noticed they weren't the normal four barrel, or dual quads she was used to seeing on classic high performance Fords, but three two barrels.

"Pretty neat huh?" Stevie said looking at his nephew's girlfriend who was straining to see more of the engine.

"Yeah." She responded, pulling her eyes from the oval air cleaner and polished chrome valve covers. "I remember you and Mike mentioning the Ford triple deuce, but I don't think I've ever seen them before. So what is it, a 352, or a 406?"

At the sound of that the owner looked over towards Molly, again ignoring the myriad of questions directed at him and focusing solely on probably the only worthwhile question he'd heard so far.

"Stevie whose this young lady?" He asked looking at the petite dark haired girl in her 20's. "Most kids today don't even know there was a 352 or a 406. But then again, having something to do with you family. . ."

Stevie grinned shamelessly, "This is Molly, my nephew's girlfriend. Molly this is Harvey." The two shook hands, and exchanged polite nods. "She's up here following a team of racers from Japan."

"Really? Sounds interesting. Oh and by the way, it's a 428 Super Cobra Jet, to answer your question." Harvey said in complete deadpan.

"You're joking right?" Molly exclaimed, "Nobody can find an SCJ, and you mean to tell me that you guys got one and put it in a '62 Galaxy."

"We built it. Built the whole driveline and suspension. You're right though, it did start as a 352 but we bored it out, put in a 428 crank, a hot solid lifter cam, SCJ heads, and valve covers, and topped it all off with the triple deuce setup, and tri-Y headers. The heads I think are only one of two sets in the state of Maine.

"Wow." Molly gasped. "Mike would love this car. What about the rest?"

"Oh, we got a NASCAR four speed, and a nodular 9 inch rear end with 4.11s." Harvey said again in complete deadpan.

"How did you get your hands on all this?" Molly gasped.

"We built it in the '70s, this stuff was a lot cheaper then, even though it wasn't that easy to find." He shrugged.

"What's it dyno at?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"Don't know, never done it." Harvey answered, "But it's got 13:1 compression, so we always figured somewhere north of 450."

* * *

"I bet my Chevelle could take you, I know it's got 450 horses under the hood." Ryosuke heard someone saying as he led the members of Project D towards the only real crowd at the cruising night.

"We'll see." Responded an older man with gray hair and beard.

"I'll see you tonight on Lake Shore Drive." The first person said, much younger than the man he had just challenged, who turned and walked away, another young man, and a young lady behind him.

"We'll see." The older man responded again.

"Aniki, look." Keisuke whispered over his older brother's shoulder.

"I know." Ryosuke said. In the process of logging away the street name in his mind, he had been taking a mental note of the crowd, and had spotted Molly's Tiger nestled between the big Maroon car, that seemed to be the topic of discussion and something that looked exotic. He found her not far from the older man.

"Excuse me?" Ryosuke said quietly, approaching the trio.

Molly just about froze when she heard the familiar voice.

"Hello." She answered tensely as she turned around.

"Nice to see you again." Ryosuke said with a slight bow. "This is your car isn't it?" The elder Takahashi said, moving toward the gleaming dark blue convertible.

"Yeah," She responded, her heart still caught in her throat. It was tough for her to keep calm, most of her work had just been done for her. She looked behind Ryosuke, to the other members of Project D standing behind him. They looked directly back at her with a mix of emotions evident on their faces, but mostly surprise and a little bit of anger. Molly noticed a couple of them had cameras as well. Ryosuke continued to look over Molly's car, leaning over the front fender with his hands behind his back. It didn't surprise him at all to find another pushrod V8 wedged into the small engine compartment.

"This is a nice car you have here. But I should have expected as much from a member of your team." Ryosuke complimented. Molly didn't know how rare praise of that calibre was coming from leader of Project D, what she did realize was that even his compliment sounded a little cold, but maybe it was just translation difficulties. "These wheels, are they Wantanabe's, like on Fujiwara's 86?"

"Thanks, and ah, no, they're Minilites." Molly responded quickly as she watched the well dressed Ryosuke make his way from bumper to bumper.

"You race too, don't you?" He asked, scrutinizing the aerodynamics of the car.

"Of course." Molly replied. She may not have faced Project D, but there was no reason for them not to know the truth, not that Ryosuke wouldn't figure it out at some point.

"So what are you doing up here anyways?" Ryosuke finally asked.

Molly was taken a little aback by Ryosuke's sudden question, unable to even process the information. She thought about if for a few seconds and determined it would be better to tell Ryosuke the truth, he would surely find out one way or another if she lied to him.

"Well, I came to visit Stevie, Mike's uncle, and to sort of keep tabs on you guys, help if I can and hopefully." Molly paused nervously, the elder Takahashi putting her on edge. "Learn how to drift."

Unlike most of the other members of Project D, Ryosuke only arched an eyebrow an imperceptible amount upon hearing that.

"Oh, sorry, by the way this is Stevie, Mike's uncle." Molly said indicating the middle aged man, trying to break some of the tension in the air. He had dark balding hair, and stood about five and a half feet tall. "And this is Harvey" She said indicating the older man with grey hair and beard.

Ryosuke shook each man's hand in turn, and introduced himself and the rest of Project D as well. Once he had done that he began to take note of the two cars parked on either side of Molly's Tiger.

"What are these other two cars?" Ryosuke asked.

"A 1962 Ford Galaxie, with a modified 352, four speed, and a 1973 De Tomaso Pantera." Molly responded.

"Ah, I've heard of them both, but never been fortunate enough to see one in the flesh. What can you tell me about our perspective competitors?"

"Not too much, I haven't run into the whole team yet, but Stevie can probably tell you more. They are here, so we can check out their cars later. Might even get to see them run." Molly looked over the Harvey for confirmation.

"Oh, you will. I'm not going to let some punk kid think he can take out my Galaxie with a Chevelle." Harvey answered.

"We shouldn't talk about it here though." Stevie said. "They might hear us talking about it, how about later tonight, after the race."

"Alright." Ryosuke responded. "But most places will probably be closed after the race, where do you want to meet."

"You guys can come to my house, we can talk it over, and be away from people who might overhear us." Stevie offered, knowing that what Ryosuke had pointed out was true.

* * *

**A/N. **Just thought a glossary of some of the terms I used.

_Triple Deuce; _Three two barrel carburetors working on a progressive mechanical linkage.

_9 inch rear end. _Ford rear axle that was renowned for its durability, and strength, those made of nodular iron even more so.

_Super Cobra Jet. _A Ford FE series engine displacing 428 cubic inches(7.0L). This was a high performance street motor, underrated by the factory at 335 HP. Because it was an FE series motor many parts were interchangeable between displacements.

_Thanks for reading, and remember, I'm always looking for reviews to help me write a better story, so please leave me a review, and let me know what you think._

_Thanks Margrave._


	4. Let's See Action

Chapter 4 Let's See Action.

"We shouldn't talk about them here." Stevie said in what for him was a hushed tone. "The kid who just challenged Harvey is one of them, as were the other two with him. We can show you their cars though."

"Of course. That would be helpful." Ryosuke responded. "Do you know of any other teams around here?"

"There's a few." Stevie answered, as the group made their way through the parking lot. "There's a team of kids that's running a lot of Japanese cars." Stevie was careful not to refer to them as wind up toys, or cracker boxes. "A Honda, a Mazda MX-3, and some sort of Mitsubishi. There's also a lot of teams that come to challenge the Bow Tie Boys."

"So they're the best in the area?" Ryosuke asked.

"Of course, they've owned Lake Shore Drive for the past couple of years now."

Ryosuke looked around as the group walked through the parking lot. He paid attention to the cars, like Riley's, it was a mix of American cars mostly, a couple of classic English cars but nothing too exotic. The leader of Project D also paid attention to the other people around, watching for the reactions to the group. But there were none, nobody gave Project D as much as a second glance. The cameras didn't make a difference to the people, especially since they weren't the only ones who had cameras slung around their necks.

Shortly the group came upon the three cars present from the Bow Tie Boys. Stevie looked them over and turned to Ryosuke.

"There's usually four." Stevie offered. "Their leader is involved in low level stock car racing, which is probably why he's not here."

Ryosuke nodded, logging that little piece of information away for later. Who knew what might come in useful in the future? The members of Project D, equipped with cameras set about photographing the Bow Tie Boys cars, paying attention to the engines, suspension, and platform. Just as Ryosuke thought, nobody at the show paid them any attention, to them they were just some more car guys taking pictures of classic cars.

"Ryosuke, look at this." Nakazato said with a wide eyed stare.

Ryosuke's carefully blank expression didn't change as he walked around the nose of the Chevelle.

"What is it Takeshi?"

"Look." Nakazato pointed into the engine bay.

Ryosuke followed Nakazato's finger, his eyes widening only a minimal amount as he looked at the massive orange engine block, topped off very wide polished chrome valve covers, a large circular air cleaner and a set of headers.

"That things huge." Keisuke said, looking over his brother's shoulder. "What is it?"

"If what that kid said earlier is true, it's an LS6 454 V8." Ryosuke said, remembering how things seemed so incredibly different in person. He looked at the massive lump of cast iron and aluminum. 450 horsepower, 500 lb-ft of torque, it was tough to imagine anything coming from a Japanese factory like that. But at such a weight penalty, and in such a big car, how would it be able to handle, and how much faster would that engine be in something smaller? Something mid engined?

"Is that overhead cam?" Keisuke asked, noticing how wide the valve covers were.

"No." Ryosuke said as he shook his head, chin thoughtfully held in his right hand. "Its pushrod, the valve covers are so wide because this motor has splayed valves, for better breathing. Be sure to take photos of the front suspension."

"Alright boss." Nakazato responded.

"Aniki I found something else." Keisuke whispered. "I'll show you."

Again Ryosuke walked over to another of the Bow Tie Boys cars, it was something Ryosuke recognized but it took his supercomputer brain a few seconds to pull it out. Click! Chevrolet . . . Corvair. . ._Unsafe at Any Speed. . ._Ralph Nadar. . .Swing axle suspension.

"It's a Corvair." Ryosuke uttered, "Why would anybody want to race this thing?"

"Look Aniki, the back seat." Keisuke said.

Ryosuke did look, and there, sitting behind a makeshift bulkhead was a V8 engine, where the back seat should have been.

"Hmmm." Ryosuke said, looking at the configuration, "They didn't come that way from Chevrolet."

"Really, I didn't think so." Keisuke answered, as if the jury-rigged bulkhead wasn't a dead give away.

"It came from the factory with a turbocharged flat six at best." Ryosuke answered. "They originally had a swing axle suspension system."

"Swing axle?" Keisuke said, with surprise. "You mean like the Volkswagen Beetle?"

"Exactly." Ryosuke responded. He walked around to the back of the car, and just about laid down on his stomach, essentially at the bottom of a pushup, so he could look at the rear suspension. Keisuke followed suit, and a moment later still wasn't quite sure what he was looking at.

"It's a modified Corvette independent suspension, notice it has coil overs." Ryosuke said, knowing his brother would eventually ask the question anyways.

"Huh. Pictures?"

"Pictures." Ryosuke confirmed, as he got back up. "This will be one tough machine to beat." Ryosuke looked around and of course, not far away was Molly, Stevie and Harvey. Ryosuke walked over to the group.

"Like what you're seeing here?" Stevie asked.

"Well yes and no." Ryosuke said. "I had hoped that the whole team would be here, but from what I see these guys are serious. Looks like it will be a good challenge. I was hoping we could arrange a time to discuss them soon."

"Of course" Stevie responded. "Tonight after the race, or maybe tomorrow afternoon." Stevie said, glancing at Harvey.

"We could." Ryosuke said. "Speaking of which, where is the best place to watch from?"

"There are a couple of good places." Stevie responded. "There's the starting line, and the first straight away, there's a shorter one near Taber's, and then the finish line. It's tough in a lot of places, because the road is rather narrow, and follows the shore line, and there's usually woods opposite that."

Ryosuke nodded thinking of timing locations, it would work out well, allowing him to gather data on at least one of the opponents so Project D would have something to help them prepare. It wasn't long before the different team members came to Ryosuke informing him that they had exhausted their supply of films.

"Is there any place we can get these developed?" Ryosuke asked Stevie.

"Of course, there's a Wal-Mart off of Route 4, they can do it, and they'll have the best prices."

"Alright, thank you. Now let's go get some food." Ryosuke said, and almost instantly all the members of Project D were paying attention.

The group sat at a couple of the picnic tables that were around, and almost constantly, Keisuke, Nakazato, Kenta and Matsumoto peppered Stevie and Molly with questions about different cars they had seen, except of course for the cars driven by the Bow Tie Boys. Stevie loved it, having a whole bunch of fresh ears to talk to, even better they already had a considerable knowledge of cars, but just not about the American cars that they were in the presence of. Molly listened, and answered some questions, and while she looked at the Project D boys just about hanging on every word Stevie said, she thought about something a High School math teacher said; "Math is an international Language." He might have been right, but he should have added cars as well.

As was typical of a cruise night cars were constantly coming and going, giving the members of Project D fresh eye candy, and an opportunity to learn. The crowd began to disappear as the sun set, eventually leaving only a few small groups of cars, the Bow Tie Boys among them. Bryan Morrissey sauntered over to where the small international group was standing.

"So, are you going to race tonight?" He asked, directing the question towards Harvey.

"Of course." The older man answered, "Lake Shore Drive you said?"

"Yup."

"How we gonna do this?" Harvey asked.

"A sprint from the Route 4 intersection to the end at Skillings Corner Road."

"Alright." Harvey nodded.

"Fifteen minutes, be there." Bryan said, and turned on his heels and walked back to his car.

"Let's go." Ryosuke said. "Where's the best place to watch from?"

"You want to be at Taber's," Stevie answered, "It gives the best view for the longest period of time."

Ryosuke nodded. "Keisuke, Kenta, Nakazato, you guys go to the finish line, Takumi, Matsumoto, you go to the starting line. Grab the timing gear from the van, as well as the radios. I'll be at Taber's with Stevie and Molly, Fumihiro - ride with Takumi to the starting line. Alright, let's go."

Molly's heart caught in her throat, knowing she should offer to take Ryosuke to Taber's as she was going there anyways, but somehow, it seemed to be to forward, and he intimidated her..

"Ryosuke, would you like to ride along with Molly or me?" Stevie asked.

_Thank you Stevie. _Molly thought silently letting out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"I'll ride with Molly." Ryosuke responded, and suddenly Molly's pulse jumped again.

"Alright." She managed to choke out. The group broke up and headed towards their vehicles.

Ryosuke climbed into the small convertible, feeling the small old style bucket seat wrap around him. It was a little bit of a tight fit for a man of his size. Molly climbed in, and fired up the car without looking at Ryosuke. He could tell by the way she acted, and moved that Molly was not entirely comfortable around him, most likely because she looked at him still as a competitor, or was even worried about him looking and catching on that she was actually spying on Project D.

"Have you been on this road before?" Ryosuke asked as they blasted down Route 4.

"Yeah, it's the best way to get to Stevie's house coming from downtown."

"So he lives nearby?"

"Yep. He moved up here a few years ago."

"Do you know if he races the Pantera? He's set it up rather well for it."

"I don't think so." Molly answered quickly. "He just likes being able to drive it fast and be able to have some fun on the twisty roads."

"Hmm." Ryosuke said as they turned onto Lake Shore Drive. He'd been by it before. "Would you mind picking up the pace a little?" Ryosuke asked. "So I can get a good feel for the portion we get to drive."

"Of course." Molly responded by downshifting and stepping on the gas. Ryosuke was immediately pinned back in his seat, even though Molly wasn't anywhere near full throttle. The engine roared as they rocketed down the first straightaway, towards a right hander that climbed a small hill. Molly hit the brakes, and downshifted, transferring the weight to the right side of the car as they approached the turn. She hit the gas as they climbed the hill turn, which quickly snaked back the other direction. On exiting the turn Molly hit the gas again, quickly gobbling up another straight section before she hopped on the middle pedal again and pulled into the parking lot at Taber's

Molly knew that the whole time Ryosuke had been silently critiquing her and taking mental notes. It was like having Mike ride shotgun, but she didn't have to worry about Ryosuke's hand shooting over and tickling her knee at a stop light.

"I like your car." Ryosuke complimented. "I wish we had more of them in Japan, but I never saw one until we met you guys."

"Yeah, it is a good little car." Molly answered smiling slightly as they both climbed out.

"Do you know what to expect in this race?" Ryosuke asked.

"I don't, I've never seen either of them race before. But I would have to think Harvey will come out on top."

Ryosuke nodded. It was definately foreign territory for him. Both cars were big, far bigger than anything that would be considered a performance car in Japan, and they had engine displacements to match.

The two would have spent the rest of the time waiting in silence if Ryosuke hadn't kept probing for information.

"So do you know what sort of modifications any of the cars have?"

"Nope," Molly responded, pretty sure that Ryosuke had already asked that question at some point that night. "But I do know that they practice at night. I think they start around eleven, or so."

"You've seen them practice though?"

"Nope, but I did pass one of them headed the opposite direction. I think she was out for more practice. It was in the morning, and then get this." Ryosuke arched an eyebrow. "The bitch tailed me to where I ate breakfast and waited for me to come out."

"Did she challenge you to a race?" Ryosuke asked.

"Nah," Molly responded, she felt uncomfortable talking so much with the person she hardly knew. That was one of the big differences between her and Mike, he could and would talk to just about anybody, especially if the topic of discussion was cars. "She just asked me about my car, I had been going pretty fast when we passed each other. It was the girl driving the Silver Nova."

"Hmm." Ryosuke stroked his chin.

"Ryosuke?" A voice said over the two way radio.

"Yes? Go ahead Matsumoto."

"Three cars are headed your way, a ZL16, an EJ, and a Mazda EC. They're going pretty quick."

"Alright, thanks." Ryosuke responded.

"ZL16, EJ, EC, what's all that mean?" Molly asked, looking up at Ryosuke.

"Oh, in Japan, we tend to refer to cars by the chassis designations, like my RX-7 is an FC, while my brothers RX-7 is an FD. The ZL16 is a Mitsubishi 3000 GT, EJ is a Honda Civic coupe, and the EC is a Mazda MX-3."

"Ahh," Molly said, and they could hear the sounds of the cars coming. Soon they were turning into the parking lot, led by a pale yellow 3000 GT with purple and red flashes following from the doors leading edge to rear. Behind that was a pink metallic Civic coupe with an airdam, and modest aftermarket spoiler. That was followed by a black Mazda MX-3, which also had a body kit, and white decals on the hood. All three cars had aftermarket wheels, and various stickers from tuning companies in the windows.

"Hey,' Molly whispered to Ryosuke. "Big rims and an exhaust tip don't make it a performance car."

Ryosuke smirked at the remark, they certainly didn't appear to be the most formidable team out there, especially with two front wheel drive cars in the mix. They kept a respectful distance from Molly and Ryosuke, probably thinking that neither represented a credible threat considering there weren't any cars besides Molly's Tiger, and with the exception of the wheels and hood it didn't look like the serious race machine that it was under the skin. Molly knew they had to be talking about her, but then again she tended to think that about a lot of people she didn't know.

"I hope this thing gets started soon." Molly said. "I always hate waiting for the start."

"Hmmm." Ryosuke said. He on the other hand didn't have time to get jittery about it, to many thoughts were rifling through his brain, chief among them was who he thought would win, and if Harvey won, should Project D forego racing the Bow Tie Boys and challenge Harvey? No, that would only be one race, and the Bowtie Boys would be at least three.

"Ryosuke."

"Yes." Ryosuke said into the radio.

"The cars have lined up at the starting line."

"Good, Takeshi, did you hear that?"

"Yes standing by."

•••

_The Starting Line._

The two monsters of American muscle sat at the starting line. The Bowtie Boys Chevelle sitting in the oncoming lane. Takumi stood right at the line with Matsumoto next to him holding the stop watch. The two cars idled, loudly with eight cylinders a piece thumping away, solid lifters clattering, with dual exhaust beating out a powerful bass note. Both cars seemed far too large to be performance cars to Takumi, but they sounded _so _powerful. Someone stepped out from the shoulder of the road and held his hand in the air. Both drivers revved their engines and Takumi swore he could feel the vibrations in his stomach.

Suddenly the engines roared, tires smoked and the two cars shot off into the night.

"They're off!" Takumi shouted into the radio, "The black car took the lead off the line!"

"The black car?" Matsumoto said, giving Takumi a joking glance. "Come on Takumi, you're smarter than that." He chided. Takumi just watched as both cars accelerated down the first straight away.

•••

_Tabers._

"They're off! The black car took the lead off the line!" Ryosuke rolled his eyes. The kid had made great leaps and bounds as far as cars were concerned, but he still didn't know the make and models of many cars.

Molly wondered if Harvey really could take the Chevelle. Both cars were very close as far as power was concerned, but the weight factor probably favored the Chevelle. Probably the only time the weight factor ever was in the Chevelle's favor. Not to mention that there was probably a thirty year age gap between the two drivers. This race was going to be interesting.

•••

"Ha, I got you old man!" Brian laughed as the headlights from the other car remained a safe distance in the rearview mirror.

Back in the Galaxie, Harvey watched the car ahead of him as they climbed the first right hander, that turned into a left. The kid had some skill, that was for sure. He paid attention to the tachometer, not letting the needle creep past 4500 RPM. He knew he could take this kid anytime he wanted.

The straight away opened up that ran down past Tabers, Harvey downshifted, slamming it into third gear. There was a squeal from the rear tires as they struggled to accept the engine's prodigious amounts of torque. The car didn't accelerate so much as it exploded, the tachometer needle spinning fast, as it raced the speedometer needle to the end of the dial. Harvey leapt out from behind the lead car and screamed past him, engine roaring. By the time they had past Tabers he was clearly in the lead.

Harvey jumped on the brakes as he approached the right hand turn that followed the straight away. _Punk kid. _Harvey thought as he heel and toe downshifted to enter the turn. It was a mild hairpin, that opened into another short straight section before turning left as it climbed another hill.

•••

"Wow." Molly gasped, after the two cars passed. Harvey had it, the car was a beast. The sound of the engine was like nothing else, and she could still hear it off in the distance doing battle with Chevy's mighty LS6. Something told Molly that it wasn't at full throttle though.

"That is a powerful car." Ryosuke said. It would be interesting if he would be willing to race against anybody from Project D, but not likely. He'd probably gotten his fill of thrashing kids.

•••

"I can't believe this!" Brian screamed at the Maroon demon still, putting distance on him. There wasn't supposed to be anyway this could happen. The other driver was to old, and he was driving a Ford that wasn't a Mustang. Brian put the peddle to the floor in an effort to try and catch his opponent, but every time he would gain, it looked like the Galaxie had even longer legs.

Harvey led through a series of turns that skirted the lake. The Galaxie may have been a big car, but Harvey and his team knew that all that power meant squat if you couldn't keep it on the road. Even though it had been a long time, Harvey knew that the kid would try to catch him through the next section. It was another long straight away that ended in a long sweeping left hand turn.

A quick glance in the rear view mirror showed Harvey that the Chevelle had gained some ground on exiting the last turn. A smirk creased Harvey's face, this was going to be fun. He hopped on the brakes entering the left hand turn at the perfect speed and line of attack to create the most momentum into the straight away, but Harvey didn't put the hammer down and finish the kid off. It would be more fun this way, and teach the punk a thing or two.

It wasn't long before the Chevelle had gained on Harvey as the two cars rocketed down the straight away. The lights from the Chevelle cast a strange light into the cockpit of the Galaxie, but it told Harvey every move the kid was making. The light moved to the left, as Brian began to try and pass. Harvey waited a couple of seconds before he gave the engine more gas, opening up the third set of butterflies on the carbs.

The mighty Super Cobra Jet roared as Harvey wound it up in third gear. He knew Brian was going to take the inside line. It was a good move, it would force Harvey to either fall in behind the other car or slow down to maintain the outside line. But it wasn't going to work that way. Harvey kept on the accelerator, the Chevelle never getting past the rear wheels of the Galaxie. In the few brief seconds before they had to commit to the turn Harvey pinned the accelerator slamming the car into fourth gear. This allowed Harvey to pull ahead enough to get in front of the Chevelle.

The two cars stayed close together, as they held the line and tried not to brake the rear end's becoming loose. As soon as the turn opened up into the last straight away Harvey hammered the gas, smoking the tires in third again. The maroon Galaxie quickly put distance on the Chevelle behind him, Brian not standing a chance as the afterburner taillights got smaller and smaller. Brian lifted his foot off the gas, there was no sense in pushing it, when he knew there was no way he would be able to catch up, much less win. It wasn't worth risking the car.

•••

_The Finish Line._

Heads turned as the sound of a roaring V8 echoed off the pine trees. The few spectators gathered at the finish line leant out into the road with caution. Soon four round headlights appeared over a small rise. It was still too far off, and too dark to tell which car it was.

Stevie stood next to Keisuke and Takeshi, both of who looked on with excitement. The car continued to roar towards them, slowing down as it approached the finish line. Nakazato clicked the stop watch.

"The Galaxie won." He reported. "Three minutes thirty-two seconds."

"Good." Ryosuke responded. "Any sign of the Chevelle?"

"Not yet." Nakazato responded,

Stevie stepped over to the drivers side of the Galaxie, he didn't realize it yet, but Keisuke stuck close by.

"Nice job Harvey." Stevie complimented over the motors lumpy idle and bass exhaust note.

"Yeah, I knew I had the kid. I think he gave up part way down the last straight. But hey Stevie, it's late and I still gotta get back to Weld."

"Of course. How did the car run?" Stevie asked, almost ignoring Harvey's statement that he needed to get going.

"Good. Come on Stevie, you know I take good car of this car. But I hope to see you soon."

"Alright." Stevie responded. Harvey gave the big car some gas and accelerated smoothly into the night.


	5. Forming Alliances

Chapter 5 Forming Alliances.

The turbocharged rotary whirred away in Ryosuke's FC as he made his way down Route 4 back to Lake Shore Drive. Just after the main drag of Route 4, Lake Auburn appeared on the left, the only source of light was from the FC's headlights. The rest of his surroundings were pitch black. He needed to do some reconnaissance on Lake Shore as Taber's and the starting line were not the best places to get a feel for the track.

Like Route 4, Lake Shore Drive was also pitch black with the periodic exception of a street light here and there along the road. Ryosuke was impressed by the quality of pavement, but given where the road was it wasn't a good idea to have pot holes and frost heaves this close to a large body of water. He ran the road all the way out to where it ended at Skillings Corner Road, and parked his car in front of the little general store. It would not be too difficult for the members of Project D to master; the challenge would have to be in the opposition. Although the quick pace and the almost constant elevation changes may be a slight problem, but with their background from home, it shouldn't be too difficult. They had experienced something like that in Medway, but the hills weren't as constant. With the exception of the first stretch the road was either climbing or descending. They drive on mountains usually so this piece may be irrelevant.

After a long drag of his cigarette Ryosuke climbed back into his car, and headed back down Lake Shore Drive. He, Molly and Stevie had agreed to meet the next afternoon. Ryosuke would have to be able to stay awake. He would send Kenta and Nakazato to film the course tomorrow as well, and the team could start practicing within a couple of nights. Ryosuke noted a couple of places on the way back to Route 4 where there was almost no shore before the lake, less than a meter in some places. Other places along the way were almost out in the woods but the lake was never far away.

The race match up would require some serious thinking, unlike Japan there were no uphill and downhill specialists, everyone raced the same course in the same direction. It didn't make for the most well rounded driver, but then again, neither did uphill and downhill specialists. Perhaps they could have the races alternate directions. What Ryosuke knew he needed to take into consideration was which vehicle and driver he would match Takumi against, and how he would get the desired match up. Suddenly it clicked in his supercomputer brain, the algorithms ran their course and the answer was easily apparent, baseball.

•••

_Tokyo University._

"Go Mike!" Sarah exclaimed as she looked at the results on Project D's website.

"Hey!" Natsuki protested, "He beat Takumi!"

"Oh sorry, but you had to see that coming." Sarah responded. "The match up was so against Takumi, I don't care what they did to that 86, or how good of a driver Takumi is. I know how good Mike is, and how good that car is, Takumi didn't stand a chance." Sarah said, brushing a lock of sandy blonde hair behind her ear.

"What do you mean? I don't even know what kind of car this Mike guy drives. Remember I'm just a navigator." Natsuki said in cheerful defense.

"The basic idea is that Mike drives a Cobra kit car, the he built to be as close to the original Cobra as it could be, and he built it with that course in mind. The kit car is still based off of a real performance car. But Takumi is driving basically a sport_y _economy car, and suffers from the limitations of being a sort of economy car." Sarah explained. Natsuki still had a lot of learning to do when it came to the world of cars and racing, but so had she when she met Mike and the Dukes of Windsor.

•••

A pair of headlights appeared through the haze behind Takumi. All of the sudden that familiar and discomforting pressure was building on the back of his neck. His first and only thought was to go faster, he hit the gas, not quite sure what was around him, and the difference in the sound of the 4AG not quit registering. There was nothing Takumi wanted to do more than win, and it fueled him to try and outrun the other car behind him.

The steering and the clutch pedal felt unusually light, and as if they weren't even connected, but the car still performed the same way it always had. Takumi focused on the road ahead, not entirely sure where he was, it was paved, relatively flat and there were trees on both sides of the road. Turns approached and Takumi easily piloted the 86 and expertly drifted through them, tire smoke billowing, engine dully roaring away in front of him.

The next time Takumi checked his rear view mirror the car that had been behind him was on his bumper. He had opened it up, and gone through the turns perfectly. It seemed no matter what he did the other car closed on him. After a second or two it clicked once he realized what was behind him, an Impreza! Within seconds the blue coupe was next to him, and before he knew it the Impreza was past him and rapidly disappearing into the night.

Takumi mashed the accelerator, but got no response from the 86's motor. He hit the clutch and downshifted, but still no response. Takumi checked the tachometer, the needle frozen just under 10,000 RPMs. Takumi tried to get the car moving the way he knew, but nothing worked. Just as Takumi was about to scream . . .

He woke up, sweating in a hotel room in Maine. Fumihiro, sleeping not too far away. Slowly Takumi caught his breath, but his thoughts remained focused on the Impreza he couldn't outrun and the Cobra he couldn't catch. He tossed the covers off and headed towards the bathroom, quickly splashing cool water on his face as he thought about his dream. Until he raced Mike the only person that Takumi had not beaten was the Impreza - his father. He padded silently over to the window gently pulling back the curtain. The 86 sat just outside the window, a dew had collected on the hood and windshield as the sun poked over the eastern horizon. It was still too early.

"Shitty old man." Takumi muttered as he climbed back into bed.

•••

The daily Project D activity closely resembled that of a NASCAR race weekend, just a little bit more relaxed. It's not that the members of Project D didn't take their racing seriously, but they didn't have multimillion dollar contracts, sponsors, or set times for appearances and starting grids. The team members sat around on beds, chairs, and the floor of the room the two Takahashi brothers shared, munching on what they had been able to snag from the continental breakfast.

"Alright," Ryosuke began, "We've had some time to scope out the competition, and while it's clear that the Bow Tie Boys are going to be our main target we still have a lot of work to do." All eyes were fixed on the unflappable leader of Project D. He looked back at the faces, all somewhat sleepy as they drank coffee or juice as they munched. Takumi looked like he was barely conscious, even more so then he normally seemed.

"We have a lot we need to do." He reiterated, "Not only do we have to get the photos developed from yesterday, Keisuke, but we also have to get film of Lake Shore Drive, Nakazato, Kenta, we also need to prepare the cars for practice which will start in two days. If anybody happens to have an opportunity get any information you can about the Bow Tie Boys without allowing other people know that we're going to challenge them do it. I'll be meeting with Stevie and Molly today as well." Ryosuke didn't need to say that the meeting was closed as it was understood immediately by his tone of voice.

Later on that day Ryosuke made his way to Stevie's house, following the very detailed directions that he didn't exactly need. He pulled the FC into what seemed to be a front lawn; Molly's Tiger was parked nearby as well so it had to be alright. There was a small hill that led to the garage of what Ryosuke knew had to be an old barn. The house itself seemed very large, especially for one person, three stories, a good sized barn and no houses behind them. The leader of Project D walked up on the porch and as he looked through the screen door he saw Stevie and Molly sitting at what appeared to be a kitchen table.

"Oh good, you're here." Stevie said hearing the footsteps on the porch. Stevie walked over and opened the door. "Were you able to find the place alright?"

"Of course." Ryosuke responded. "Is my car alright there?" He asked, still slightly worried that he might offend Stevie by parking on his lawn.

"Absolutely. Anything that might keep this grass from growing is fine by me. It takes me about three days a week to get it all mowed." Stevie waved a hand out towards the sliding door to indicate the back yard and the considerable hill.

"Would you like some coffee?" Molly asked.

"Yes, thank you." Ryosuke responded.

"Please, sit down." Stevie said.

"Thank you." Ryosuke said again.

"So you need some information about the Bow Tie Boys." Stevie said as Molly set a cup of coffee down in front of their guest.

"Yes." Ryosuke responded as he took in his surroundings. He was in a kitchen/dining room combo, but just through the doorway was a dining room complete with wood table, floor, and decorative light fixture. A small magazine rack next to the sliding door to the backyard contained numerous back issues of car magazines, while a few newer titles were on the table. Besides that the only other nod to Stevie's automotive passion was a classic car wall calendar.

"What do you want to know?" Stevie asked.

"Last night, you mentioned that the leader's car was missing, what is it?"

"A 1966 Corvette convertible." Stevie answered. "Here let me show you." With that Stevie disappeared and went upstairs.

Ryosuke looked across the table at Molly. "I'm sure you trust my automotive knowledge?" Ryosuke said in deadpan, not conveying enough humor for Molly to be sure.

"Of course I do." Molly responded uneasily. "Stevie's like this with everybody, even Mike. So don't worry, it's not you."

Stevie came back a minute or two later holding three different books, all on the Corvette.

"Alright, so the leader of the Bow Tie Boys drives a 1966 Corvette Convertible, it's a 327 375 horse motor with a Muncie four speed. The Corvettes had tons of potential, and were very good cars, but they were always hampered by the tires."

"Bias plys didn't make the best performance tires." Ryosuke said.

"Not only that," Stevie added, "But they were narrower than most other performance cars at the time because of the way the body was designed, the fenders were not wide enough to fit tires much wider than stock."

"Hmmm." Ryosuke said thoughtfully, his chin resting in his hand. "That severely limits the cars capabilities against machines with a better contact patch."

"Right." Stevie exclaimed, he flipped through one of the books, and suddenly turned it around to Ryosuke. A two page layout faced Ryosuke, the striking shape of the third generation Corvette, but spread over most of the two pages was a low angle shot looking straight forward at a Corvette. "Look at how narrow the tires are, and look at the wheel arches. Many people would cut and flair the wheel arches so they could fit bigger tires." That was nothing new to Ryosuke as that was standard practice for any form of performance driving. "This is important because the leader of the Bow Tie Boys, has a 'Vette that still has a stock body, and while radial tires help the performance, it's still not as good as it could be."

"Would it be best to match up my best handling car against it?"

"That would be a good plan." Stevie confirmed. "But you have to remember that the motor does make 375 horse power. If you're best handling car is either heavier, or not as powerful you could run into a problem."

"Good, now what about the other cars?" Ryosuke asked.

"Well the Nova I wouldn't worry too much about." Stevie said, and Molly clenched her fist, sure that Stevie was going to say because it was driven by Amanda. "The Nova isn't the best platform, our local one is running a 350, with about 350 horsepower, again with a Muncie. But like I said it's not that good a platform. The Nova was basically an economy car."

"Good, what about that modified Corvair? That seem like it could be a very difficult opponent."

"Yep, from what I heard its north of 350 horse, with a Corvette IRS. Again, it has a four speed, and the mid mounted 350 helps the weight balance. It's going to be a tough car to beat, what do you have with high horsepower, and good handling?"

"My brother's FD, and Nakazato's GT-R."

"FD?" Stevie asked.

"Last generation RX-7." Molly piped in.

"Oh," Stevie said, "And what about the GT-R?"

"It has just about 400 horsepower and computer controlled all wheel drive."

"Computers." Stevie scoffed. "They don't belong in cars. This Nakazato guy is one of your second stringers?"

"Yes."

"Good, you're going to need these double aces Molly's told me about for the 'Vette and the Chevelle. The Chevelle has 450 horsepower, but as you saw the car is so heavy that it can be overcome by a car that's light and handles well."

"Thank you." Ryosuke said. "Do you happen to know where we could get some high octane gas?"

"What like 93-94?"

"102."

"Hmm, you might be able to get some at Twitchel's airport, but it won't be cheap."

"Thank you." Ryosuke said as he got up from the table.

"Oh, one more thing before you go, would you and your team like to stay here? Its closer to the course, and it won't cost you anything."

"Thank you for the offer, but we wouldn't want to impose."

"No don't worry about it." Stevie waved off Ryosuke's protest. "There's plenty of room in this house, and it will be nice to have some car guys around here again. Come on, let me show you the barn."

Stevie got up from the table suddenly very excited, and made his way across the kitchen to the door that led out to the barn. Ryosuke glanced at Molly, before he headed after Stevie. The barn might have been more impressive on the inside than the out, exposed beams, hooks for ropes, and chains fashioned right out of the branches, and stuck to the beams that had once been tree trunks, or large limbs. It was two levels with the Pantera sitting close to the door with a drive on lift in front of it, an air compressor, tire machine, and at least three or four large red tool boxes tucked away in an alcove.

"You've got all that you need in here, huh?" Ryosuke said. "I'm sure you have an alignment set somewhere, but I don't see a tire balance."

"Oh I got one, well actually two, but you probably want the high speed on the car spin balancer."

Ryosuke arched an eyebrow, "On the car?"

"Well yeah, I bought it a long time ago, because they were the only way to balance tires and wheels for high speed, works for steel wheels and alloys."

Ryosuke knew all this, but it showed him a bit more about Stevie.

"So how about coming and staying here, you'll get access to the barn no problem too."

"I'll have to think about it." Ryosuke said.


	6. The Last Straw

Chapter 6 The Last Straw.

Bill charged out of the turn hot on the heels of the first place driver barely inches separating the two vehicles. The Chevy V8 roared at an other, worldly wail that can only be obtained by a motor bred to race. Both cars had slowed down from the pace they had set earlier in the race, as tires wore, and weight balance changed with consumption of fuel. Now they were down to only a few laps to go.

Just before the race had started Bill's father came to him and confirmed what had been rumored all weekend; scouts from Hendirck Motorsports were in the stands with clipboards in hand. As far as Bill's father was concerned this could be Bill's one and only chance to catch on with a big time NASCAR team, and Bill knew it too, and even though he didn't want to be in a stockcar going around in circles, only turning left for the rest of his career he knew if he did make it big in NASCAR he might be able to land a spot on an American Le Mans series team or anybody in the sports car racing world.

It affected the way Bill's dad conducted the pit stops as well, hopefully to give his son the best chance of winning. But it could always cost him in the long run too. His father had ignored the continual instability of the rear end except for air pressure adjustments, but no wedge, no suspension check, and Bill was out on the track with the pedal to the metal trying to win the race. At the last pit stop they had only taken right side tires, which only helped to add to the instability in the rear end.

From the driver's seat Bill could feel it getting worse, the left tire was not going to hold out much longer. He could play it safe and back off, give up some space and maybe a position or two, but he would finish. He could also push, try to pass going down into the first turn. If he backed off even if he finished the race in second he would hear about it from his father, and Bill wanted to win, he always wanted to win.

A little extra pressure on the gas pedal brought the leader that much closer. The two cars blasted down the straight away, the white flag waving as they crossed the start/finish line. Bill moved to pass on the inside. He had almost pulled even with the lead car, but holding the inside line allowed Bill to get on the brakes later than his opponent. The other drivers dropped back as they entered the turn, Bill having waited to brake until the last possible moment. The second Bill pushed down on the accelerator he knew what had happened. The left rear tire had blown. He didn't have time to react, the engine jumped in revs as the one good rear tire lost traction. The rear end came around quickly and the car began to slide up the banking of the track amidst the squeal of rubber and gray tire smoke, slamming the rear end of the car against the wall. The engine died instantly, and the sudden silence was unnerving to Bill. Looking around the gray tire smoked fill car Bill unlatched the racing harness and quickly popped off the steering wheel so he could climb out of the car. Bill hopped out of the car, none the worse for wear, the car was another story.

"You alright?" Bill heard a voice ask, and quickly there was a pair of hands on his shoulders. He turned around to see one of the track paramedics. "Come on, we gotta get you checked out. What's your name?"

"Bill Morrissey." He responded as the paramedic led him to an ambulance.

•••

"What the hell happened!" Bill's father roared as soon as his son stepped out of the infield hospital.

"Thanks dad, nice to see that you care." Bill said offhandedly. It may not have been what he wanted to be racing but he still wanted to win. He was a competitor at heart and always wanted to win.

"Do you realize this might have been your big chance!" Bill's father continued as if his son had somehow willed the tire to blow. "Guys from Hendrick Motor sports were in the stands, and you went and wrecked the car!"

"God damn! The left rear tire blew, or couldn't you see that from the pits!" Bill erupted. "Only taking two tires and gas was your call not mine!"

"You should have known!" His father interrupted, "You should have stayed in second and finished the race!"

"Oh second wouldn't have been good enough for you!" Bill fired back, "I'm done with this shit!" He yelled at his father before throwing down his helmet and stalking off.

"You can't do this. We have sponsors, we have to finish the season!"

"Find somebody else!" Bill yelled over his shoulder, his father continued to protest going on about sponsors, and finishing the season, and commitment. Bill just ignored his father, his face fixed in a scowl of anger. There was nothing more he could do, his father was not going to see reason, he had a very finely defined idea of how things were supposed to happen, and very focused idea of what was right and wrong. One thing they both shared was their extreme stubbornness.

He kept walking, past pit lane, past their truck, past the official's trailer, until he found a pay phone. Picking up the receiver he called home collect.

"Hello? Bill?" Amanda answered the phone on the other end.

"Oh good. Could you come pick me up?"

"You had another fight with dad, huh?"

"Yeah I did, could you just come and pick me up. I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Ok Bill, I'm on my way. It's gonna be like an hour though."

"That's alright, as long as I don't have to ride home with dad. Bye."

"Bye." Amanda echoed, before Bill hung up the phone.

•••

"Alright, so what happened?" Amanda asked her older brother as he slumped into the front seat of her Nova.

"I quit." Bill said plainly.

"What?" Amanda asked with surprise.

"I quit. I'm tired of driving big poor handling cars around in a circle."

"So how did it happen?" She asked.

"Well there were some Hendrick scouts watching the race." Bill began. "So you can imagine how dad got. I was running third, before the last pit, dad made a call for two tires and fuel. I picked up a position there. Well on the last lap I passed for first and the left rear tire blew, put the car into the wall back end first. When I came out of the aid station dad was all over me about wrecking the car, and especially in front of the Hendricks guys. If he'd just done four tires I could have fought my way to first." Bill said. "So I quit. I don't want to deal with these cars anymore."

"Oh," Amanda said, knowing she shouldn't tell Bill what had happened the other night because it would make him angry, but at the same time the ride home would give him some time to cool off.

"How was your weekend?" Bill asked.

"Well. . ." Amanda hesitated, "Brian lost a race on Lake Shore."

"What. . .to who?" Bill roared, Amanda flinched involuntarily, gripping the white ball Hurst shift knob, a little tighter.

"Some guy named Harvey, in a Maroon Galaxie hardtop."

"Brian's an idiot." Bill spat out, resting his head on his hand. "Do you know who that is?" He didn't give his younger sister time to answer. "That car is filled with Ford Racing goodies. The Chevelle's a beast, but we tried to tune it so it would still be somewhat streatable, but that Galaxie might as well be a race car. I can't freakin believe this."

The two rode on in silence for some time. Only the sound of the motor and the road going by underneath were audible. Bill stared out the windshield, trees and other cars blurred as they passed. Brian just needed to know more, he always had been a little more detached from the scene than anyone else in the family, but that was still no excuse for not knowing that man and that machine.

"You know what this means?" Bill said after about fifteen minutes. He only paused briefly, not long enough for Amanda to respond. "It means every asshole with a bodykit and exhaust tip is going to come crawling out of the woodwork to challenge us. Oh this is going to be a fun next couple of weeks."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Amanda responded. "But that was it for the weekend, nobody else challenged us." She said in a happy tone.

Bill began to plan, he knew what was coming, everybody in the area who thought they had a fast car would be coming out to Lake Shore to challenge them. The reality of the situation was that even if Bill had been there he wouldn't have challenged Harvey, he probably wouldn't have been able to beat him, even though the Corvette was lighter, had a better suspension and Bill knew Lake Shore like the back of his hand. The 'Vette was still down at least 100 horsepower to the Galaxie, and Harvey had years more experience.

But that didn't matter, what Brian had done was stupid, but he couldn't change it now, but he sure as hell could be angry at the kid. It would be tough, but Bill had an idea to prevent just anybody from getting a race against them, but it would be a bold move.

•••

After considering all the options carefully Ryosuke decided the Project D should take Stevie up on his offer. It was closer to Lake Shore Drive than the hotel, it had all the facilities they needed and would be much cheaper than a hotel would be too, not that money was an option, but keeping the bills down was always a plus.

Now Project D was getting settled in Matsumoto was astounded at what Stevie had tucked away in that old barn, even if he needed to be taught how to use the Coates tire machine, and the on the car high speed spin balancer. But everything was there, a lift, an air compressor, and an arsenal of impact wrenches some of which Matsumoto knew he might not ever use, even when he got home. Everything he needed was there.

Now that they had film of Lake Shore Drive Keisuke and Takumi as well as Nakazato and Kenta could focus on learning the ins and outs of the road. At the same time Matsumoto could start working on the cars. Ryosuke might want them practicing as early as that night, it was Monday after all. Ryosuke sat at the kitchen table, pouring over the books that Stevie had provided. Truth was, that while the vaunted leader of Project D knew a little about most of the American cars they had run up against what he knew was only through print, and back home, books about the Nova and Corvair were almost impossible to find. Stevie knew so much about the vehicles, he had been around when monsters like that were common, but he was needed in the barn. Matsumoto was a top flight mechanic, but he still needed to be shown how to use some of the older equipment Stevie had filled his barn with. Something told Ryosuke that it would take Matsumoto quite awhile to get used to the on the car high speed spin balancer. There would be plenty of time to ask Stevie questions later, right now he needed to scrutinize every little bit of information he could get his hands on.

Stevie had provided a book on Chevrolet small block V8s engines, but it was a world apart from Japan, where and 86 always got a 1.6L 4AG, and AE85 always had a 1.5L 3AG, or and RX7 always had a 13B, with the only major difference being how many if any turbos it had. The Americans had an entirely different idea, it was the old way of building horsepower, the same block, the same displacement earned a different engine code based on the cylinder heads, cam, carburetor, and any combination of numerous parts. Was the cam hydraulic or solid lifter, the heads cast iron, or aluminum, what size were the valves how about the connecting rods, was it one four barrel, two fours, or tri-power. It made it difficult to discover what motors actually resided in the engine compartment the Corvette, Nova, and the Corvair, all Ryosuke knew was the displacement and there were dozens of motors with the same displacement but vastly different part and capabilities. Somehow though Ryosuke knew that Stevie was going to come in extremely handy.

Molly walked in from the other room, and looked at the eldest Takahashi, admiring how focused he was, how driven he was for his team to succeed. He was a lot like Mike in that respect.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Molly said, knowing it would only be tougher the longer she waited to speak to him.

"Hmm." Ryosuke responded, "It's a lot more difficult than what I'm used to dealing with. These Chevrolet engines, with all the codes for what the engine is equipped with. L46, LS6, L88."

"Yeah, you almost have to be raised with it. That's how Stevie and Mike know what they know. Unlike Mike though, you folks never really get exposed to these they way we get to see some of the best Japanese cars here all the time."

"Hmm, it's true. You guys definately have an advantage over us, and you have built some very interesting machines. Not always the most balanced and well handling but some very nice cars."

"Yeah, the stuffs out there now to make a lot of them handle better, but it never beats something that was designed to handle from the start."

"True." Ryosuke said, continuing to flip through the book in front of him.

"Ryosuke, I was just wondering." Molly paused, until he looked up at her, instantly intimidating her even though he didn't mean to. Molly's voice caught in her throat.

"What is it?" Ryosuke asked.

"I was wondering if I might get a chance to learn how to drift soon?"

"First off, you should come to our practice tonight, to watch, or ride along, I don't know if I'll be able to teach you, but I'll see about getting someone to."

"Thank you Ryosuke, is there anything I can do to help?"

Ryosuke sat back, the wood chair giving a creak in protest. He cradled his chin in his right hand. "Yes, there is." He finally said, "Its clear that you race, I'm not entirely sure why you didn't race us in Medway. Knowing this I'm sure you Mike and the other would have some experience on Lake Shore Drive." Ryosuke paused, and Molly wasn't sure where he was going with his line of reasoning.

"Well I guess we have, we've raced locals here a couple of times, but not too often." She said with a shrug.

"Good I think it would be an asset to the team if you were to give my brother and Takumi some pointers on the best way to attack the course."

"Sure anytime, I don't know how much of a help I'll be, but I'll do what I can. When do you want me to sit down with them?"

"As soon as you can." The leader of Project D responded. "They're in the living room watching film of the course now."

Molly twirled her keys on her finger, "I think I'll go for a drive, better have a fresh run of the course under my belt if I'm going to help your drivers."

"Good thank you." Ryosuke responded, he watched as she disappeared out the door. Molly would give them good information, it may not have a significant outcome on the race, but the leader of Project D knew that psychology was an important factor too. Unlike the previous summer Project D did not have the luxury of going home Sunday morning. More than 6000 miles away from home without the comfort of a home course, and friends and family that would keep them loose. This was important for his drivers, but especially Keisuke and Takumi, they had to learn to adapt and to deal with issues regardless of location. It would make the final transition easier for them. But they did need some sort of life preserver, they needed something to help them feel comfortable.


	7. Display of Talent

Chapter 7 Display of Talent.

Molly stood among the members of Project D as they prepared to start the nights practice sessions. They all seemed to move with purpose, but there was no sense of panic, only mission. It was amazing the way they worked, Mike had told her that they held very intense practices, but now was the first time she'd been able to see it firsthand. The way a mechanic rode along with a computer sitting on his lap. She wasn't entirely sure what they were for, but it had to have something to do with monitoring performance, or searching for problem areas with the way the cars was running.

Keisuke's yellow FD rolled into the parking area, growling with a downshift as he navigated to a parking spot. Once parked the younger Takahashi brother climbed out of the car and quickly went over some technical data with his mechanic, and brother. Takumi stood nearby, Matsumoto making some final adjustments before he made his practice run. Just before Takumi pulled out to take the starting position Keisuke walked over to the Panda Trueno and started talking with Takumi. He described a couple of sections of the course with his hands, but the conversation ended quickly, and Keisuke was walking away from his younger counterpart. Molly wondered what they had been talking about, but knew it had to be something having to do with the course. She watched as Takumi leveled the car with the starting line. The motor on the '86 revved up a couple of times, one of the Project D support crew waved a hand and the little old Corolla hatch launched hard, _real _hard, especially for practice. The tires screamed, the little engine roared as well as it could and Takumi began his first practice lap of the evening. Molly was so distracted that she didn't even notice that Keisuke was walking towards her.

"Molly." Her heart jumped, when she heard the younger Takahashi brother call her name, for despite being around the Project D boys more and more she still wasn't exactly comfortable around them, especially the Takahashi boys. There was something about them; something commanding, charismatic, intimidating. He smiled at her as he approached his practice run must have went well.

"Oh, hi Keisuke." She managed, trying to get her joints to unfreeze. "Did your practice run go well?"

"Yes, the pointers you gave me were very helpful. It's nice to have a person who knows the local turf. Back home Aniki had us watch videos of the courses, and then we would get one night of practice before we had to race." Keisuke lit a cigarette.

"It's good to hear I could help, what do you think?"

"I like it." Keisuke responded. "It's short and high speed, with good variations of turns, it's more of a sprint than I'm used to, but I like it. Not quite like your home turf."

"Yeah." Molly chuckled. "He's nicknamed it the 'Little Green Hell.'"

"After the Nurburgring?" Keisuke asked, arching an eyebrow not unlike his older brother.

"Yeah, I think, that's the one in Germany right?"

"So my brother tells me you want to learn how to drift."

Molly froze up, always feeling that one of these exchanges would turn into a confrontation at some point. She nodded in response.

"That's cool, he wants me to give you a ride along tonight after practice."

"Cool." Molly chocked out, in stark contrast to Keisuke's relaxed attitude.

"Why do you want to learn how to drift? I'm sure you know it's not the fasted way to race."

_Damn, _something that required a real response.

"Because it looks cool, and I would like a new driving challenge."

Keisuke took a drag of his cigarette. "I can admire that, perhaps in the morning we can discuss some techniques. But right now I have to go over data with my brother."

"Alright." Molly said, as Keisuke turned and walked towards the support van where his brother was standing.

•••

Takumi slipped the clutch and prodded the gas in order to get the gas to get the perfect launch. Immediately Matsumoto knew something was different, something was up. The small dips and rises in the main straight were amplified at a speed he had never experienced as Takumi's mechanic. The engine screamed in ways that had never been heard before. Takumi slammed home each shift. The readout from the computer was in the stratosphere. Clearly the kid had gone insane. The speed alarm was chiming away in no time, and they quickly approached the first turn. Tires howled as Takumi set the '86 into a perfect four wheel uphill drift, downshifting and stomping the gas. The car ripped past Taber's, Kenta's mouth dropped as the '86 roared past, he had never seen the car move that fast.

Takumi looked straight ahead, his eyes totally focused on what part of the road was illuminated by the driving lights, and head lights. He had to go faster, that was the only way he was going to win was to go faster. The only way to go faster was to practice at full speed so that he could push that much harder when it came time to race. He had to sharpen his skills so he could keep on winning. The '86 had always done the job, together they were totally unstoppable, that was until they met Mike.

Takumi jumped on the brakes, briefly, and with a flick of the steering wheel set the trusty '86 into another of his signature four wheel drifts. The trees that were caught in the headlights were complete blurs as the sped past, rocketing down a straight away. As the next left turn approached Matsumoto feared that at the speed they were going even the slightest mistake by Takumi would lead to animals picking bits of them out of the brush for months. He feared even more breaking the kid's concentration for something as mundane as reminding one of the double aces that he was only supposed to go at 85 percent.

The car glided through the turns just like Takumi always piloted the car, but the speed was amplified as they now faced a slight decline on approach to a right handed turn. Takumi knew what lay just meters beyond the trees on the far side of the pavement, Lake Auburn, but he also knew that the '86 was almost as much a part of him as his fingers, or his toes, and he could use the hunk of metal, rubber and glass just like a finger.

The old black and white hatchback continued to scream and move in a way it never had before as Takumi pushed his hardest in practice. Ryosuke had to know about this. Matsumoto knew the motor was good and strong, but the car could only take so much. He was still keeping it within the rev limit but he kept it revved higher and longer in the turns. The motor would take it, something stupid would break, a valve spring, or the bearing on the alternator, something stupid, but one thing was for sure the tires wouldn't last long, the suspension would wear out sooner. Matsumoto sat tight until Takumi finishes the lap waiting until the last possible second to hit the brakes and slow down for the finish line. On the way back to the starting line Matsumoto finally spoke up.

"That was a really fast lap Takumi." He said. "That seemed to be a lot faster than 85 percent Ryosuke wants us to run at."

"Yeah," Takumi responded. Matsumoto wouldn't understand, he had never been on this side of the car, never sat in his seat and done everything in his powers to win and still come up short, he was a mechanic.

"You know the car can't take that all the time, parts wear out, stuff brakes, especially when you push that hard."

"But I thought this was a race motor." Takumi responded.

"It is, but that doesn't mean things won't break, that's just something that happens with cars." This was something the kid had a lot to learn about, to him much of the automotive world revolved around the old '86 that his father had always taken care of, and some knowledge about the other cars he had raced against. He needed more experience.

"That fast?" Ryosuke arched an eyebrow when Fumihiro reported Takumi's first practice time. "Are you sure that's accurate?"

"Yes boss, I'm sure." Fumihiro responded, there was always a little variance in timing but not by the amount Takumi had just ripped off.

"3:15?" Ryosuke asked again.

"Yes boss, 3:15." Fumihiro confirmed.

That meant that Takumi had disobeyed what was basically a standing order to hold to 85 percent for practice. He would have to check with Matsumoto first, before he spoke with Takumi about it. That time was significantly faster than that of either Harvey, or Keisuke. This was something that Ryosuke had not anticipated; it was most likely a response to his loss to Mike. The kid had never lost a race, when the motor blew against Kyouchi it was not considered a loss by anybody. Losing to Mike was the first time he had lost and the car was what had come up short without breaking something. Now his only option was to try and go as fast as he could in the old '86.

The Trueno hatchback rolled into the parking area and Takumi switched off the engine. Ryosuke leaned against the FC; he had recorded Takumi's time on the clipboard he held. The unflappable leader of Project D lit a cigarette, and watched as Matsumoto made his way over to the FC. Part way, when he was sure that Takumi couldn't see him Matsumoto pulled a face to show Ryosuke how astounded he was.

"How fast?" Ryosuke asked, not mincing his words.

"It was absolutely amazing, the fasted I've ever gone in a time trial."

"Percentage wise, where was he?"

"If I had to guess," Matsumoto let out a deep breath, "100 plus. He was amazingly fast. I don't know how much of that the car can take. I mean it will hold out, but if he drives like that every practice session I don't know." He rubbed his hand across his face in exasperation.

"Did he let on as to why he pushed so hard?"

"No, he hardly said a word, you know, normal Takumi." Matsumoto shrugged.

"Hmm, I thought so Keisuke!" Ryosuke called to his younger brother.

"Yeah Aniki?" Keisuke said as he approached.

"How did you feel about your lap tonight?"

"Not bad, it was a good lap." Keisuke responded with his usual confidence. "A usual first time. I've been going a little easier since we've been spending more time getting prepared then we did back home."

"Do you think you'll be comfortable if I call off the rest of practice tonight?"

"Yeah, I guess it would be alright, I mean we still have almost a week of practice time left." The younger Takahashi brother responded. "Why, what happened?"

"Something's come up with Takumi that I have to handle."

"Should I still give Molly the demonstration then?"

"Yes, she rode out in one of the support vans didn't she?" Keisuke nodded to his brother in response. "Good, wait here after we leave so you can have a free run."

"Alright." Keisuke responded before going off to find Molly.

There were some confused faces when Ryosuke announced that practice would end following Nakazato and Kenta's practice runs, but none the less, the members of Project D continued their routine. Molly spotted Takumi going over the computer readouts with his mechanic, who she didn't know was trying to convince him to slow down from that lap speed. Nakazato and Kenta's laps went without incident. As the team packed up after the last run Molly hovered near Keisuke, careful not to get too close so that Keisuke wouldn't think she was anxious, and just so she was plainly not in the way. They were good enough to allow her to tag along as she wanted to make sure she didn't make them angry.

As she waited Molly made her way over to Keisuke RX-7 to have a look, see if she could figure out something Mike had missed. It was well beyond the RX-7 Mazda had unleashed to the street, gone was most of the nose, along with the signature flip up lights, in their place was what appeared to be; a wide body style kit, with curves to redirect airflow and create down force, the hood with massive vents to suck hot air away from the motor, and the turbines. The side skirts allowed for extra width on the tires, which in turn increased grip. Outback, _oh_, the back, a rear diffuser, and a wing, no doubt that it did its job. Separately most of these were stereotypical tuner car pieces; a wing, a body kit, bigger wheels, and low profile tires. On Keisuke's RX-7 it was done properly, things matched and worked well together, the colors were correct and it all worked, it was complete, not chintzy, and half assed like 90 of tuner cars. It was a car built by people who knew what they were doing, and knew why they were doing it.

"You ready?" Keisuke asked.

Molly snapped out of the contemplative trance regarding the RX-7. "Yeah, whenever you want to go." She responded.

"We just have to wait a little so they can get back to the house before we set out, but we might as well get in."

"Right." She answer and popped open the door. She slipped easily into the bucket seat. It felt incredibly weird to sit on the side she usually drove from, and have no wheel in front of her. Molly did manage to steal a look at the instruments; the problem was that the tachometer was the only gauge that meant anything to her because revs were neither nether metric nor standard. That tachometer told her a lot though; it was big and mounted in the center of the instrument cluster, signifying the cars sporting intent. Mike and the boys had never really taken the car seriously as a performance machine because of the Wankle motor, and turbos would only add to their problems, right?

Keisuke cranked over the motor, and it caught almost instantly and settled down to an idle. One thing none of them had ever gotten used to was the sound of the rotary, but it was there for Molly, a weird whirring sound hiding just beneath the whistle of the turbine. A couple of quick shots of the accelerator sent the motor wailing into the upper reaches of the RPM level. The motor settled back down, and the younger Takahashi brother continued to wait.

"Ready?" Keisuke asked, casting a side long glance at his passenger.

"Yeah." Molly responded, checking the buckle on the racing harness.

"Good." Keisuke said with a smirk. He stabbed the gas, and worked the clutch as if he'd been doing it his entire life. The 13B rotary's shriek mixed with an immense wail from the twin turbochargers, all doubts of the Mazda's performance vanished. Molly was pinned back in the seat with almost the same force as her Tiger. Keisuke banged a couple of gears as they blasted down the first straightaway.

Molly gripped the leg bolsters of the bucket seat as they approached the first turn; sure they were going to careen off into the woods so hard they would never be able to tell what was bone and what was tree. At the last moment Keisuke turned in with expert precision, and the tale began to slide out and it kept going. Molly's heart jumped into her throat as Keisuke poured on the power and counter steered. Molly felt the car pendulum back the other direction as they yellow RX-7 drifted up the right hand turn, the scenery blurred in front of them as Molly found it tough to focus on anything the way Keisuke was driving. He caught the rear end perfectly and hammered the gas, sending the yellow FD rocketing down the straightaway that passed in front of Taber's.

Just at the edge of the headlights was a wall of pine trees as the road moved down and to the right following the shoreline. Even thought Molly knew Keisuke was a top flight driver she couldn't shake the feeling that they were about to go skidding through the trees and land in Lake Auburn, not too far on the other side of the trees. Maybe the doubt came from not having really gotten to know Keisuke, or maybe it was because he was demonstrating a driving method that lived at the edge of tire adhesion, just a little overexcitement would lead to them being scattered among the trees.

Again Keisuke powered over into another drift, the tires squealed far more than anything Molly was used to, the motor screamed and the world seemed like it could come off its axis at any moment. It kept going like that, every turn, tire smoke, incredible sound, and the punch low in the back when Keisuke had it pointed straight.

After watching how the car moved Molly knew she had to see how it was that Keisuke was able to make the car move like that. Not wanting to be too obvious, unless she were to break his concentration she turned her head just enough so she could see him. The lights from the dashboard provided just enough light to see by. It was easy to tell that beneath the spiked blonde hair was a very intensely concentrated face, eyes focused on the road ahead, not looking to shift gears, just an occasional glance at the gauges to make sure everything was alright. He changed gears with amazing speed, and the steering effort that went into executing the perfect drifts was incredible.

It seemed like in no time they were slowing down along the last straightaway. The younger Takahashi brother downshifted into third gear, and the whir of the tiny rotary motor, and the whine of the turbine steadily decreased.

"That was fun." Keisuke said as he put down the window. "I haven't done that in awhile."

Molly looked over at him, as he lit a cigarette. "You haven't done that in awhile?" Molly asked astounded, eyes wide open as well as her mouth.

"It's not the fastest way to get around course, and with the modifications that have been done to this car I have more grip. It's faster, but it doesn't look as cool to grip turn all the time. But drifting is fun too."

"Well yeah, but you haven't done that for awhile? And you were that good?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, I just haven't done it like that in a practice time trial situation."

"You used to race like this, I mean all the time?"

"Yeah, we used to, but drifting can only take you to a certain level, or at least that's what my brothers made clear, he used to do it too, but when he really needed to win a race against a tough opponent he used grip driving technique."

"Oh." Molly said.

"That's why it perplexes me that you want to learn how to drift, you already have some very skilled drivers on you team, and drifting is not the fastest way to race. But a new challenge is always good. I hope you are able to master it quickly."

•••

"Mike! Phone!" John called through the door to the office/store of Hillside Auto.

"Who is it?" Mike called back, stepping out from under the lift, oily rag in his hand.

"Just answer the phone." John responded.

"Hillside Auto, this is Mike, what can I do for you?"

"Hey, Mike, how come you never call me?"

"Maybe because the long distance rates to Japan are ridiculous. What have you been up to?"

"Racing, going to college you know, what I would have been doing if I still lived in America."

"Yeah, what do you have for a car now?"

"A '95 Nissan Skyline GTS-T type M. It's not a GT-R, but I've made it plenty quick, in fact I just won a race."

"Good, nice to see you're keeping up with the game."

"So how are things with you?" Sarah asked.

"Right now." Mike paused, "Crumby. I hate that freakin' Renault Alliance, shittiest car I've ever worked on, the seats suck, they have no support, their uncomfortable, the interior is awful, the motor has no fuckin' power, and they go and put a skid shield underneath the oil pan, and as soon as you get the drain plug the slightest bit loose you're leaking oil all over the skid plate, and it's dripping down your arm, and when you get the damn thing out oil gets all over the skid plate because you can't get the drain plug out of there quick enough. I swear if I could find the Renault design team responsible for this piece of shit, I'd run down the line and hold my hand out to slap them all in the face. I just want to shoot this damn piece of shit car."

"With what?" Sarah responded.

"Rifle, shotgun, 50 cal machine gun, bazooka, and A-10 Warthog, anything all these cars need to be destroyed."

"Oh, Mike. So I saw you beat Takumi Fujiwara."

"Who? Oh the kid with the old Corolla hatch, yeah, that kid has a ton of skill."

"Do you realize what you did? That kid, and that old Corolla have never lost, I mean never, he's beaten GT-Rs, S2000s, Lancer Evos, you name it the kids beat it. I don't know if you know this but that kid is a legend around here. I think you put all of Shibukawa's racers into a depression until his next race, that is of course unless he loses again."

"Yeah, but we lost overall, John, and Fox lost to the RX-7, and that Skyline."

"Mike, I don't think you understand what you were up against. Project D dominated Gunma prefecture, they challenged everybody and won!"

"So what are they doing here? If they're that good why are they here?"

"To dominate America, they don't fool around, they're going to prove a point, and you threw a big 'ole monkey wrench in the whole scheme. I'm glad to see that you're still on top of your game."

"Yeah, you too." Mike responded the fact of what he had done beginning to sink in. "You know I think I'm gonna go to Maine this weekend."

"Don't tell me you sent them to Stevie? You didn't."

"I did." Mike responded.

**A/N **

Hey everybody, thanks for reading. I know it has been taking awhile to get this updated, but I hope you think it was worth the wait. Please leave a review, and let me know what think

Thanks,

Margrave.


	8. New Information

Chapter 8 New Information

Molly could hear the sounds as soon as she woke up, impact wrenches, the tire machine, and different voices yelling to be heard over the din of work in a shop. Project D was up and at it early. In a few minutes she was downstairs sipping on a cup of coffee, through the open door to the barn Molly could hear the sounds as they kept working. A few minutes latter she was leaning against the doorframe watching as Matsumoto worked on Keisuke's FD.

"Good morning." Keisuke said as he walked over to where Molly was standing.

"Yeah, morning." Molly said, knowing just how attractive she looked first thing in the morning.

"You're up late, and you didn't even have to practice last night."

"Yeah, well I'm on vacation, this is like your job, isn't it?" Molly responded.

"Well I guess you're right." Keisuke answered. "I hadn't really thought of it like that. It's tough work and takes a lot of dedication and determination, but I guess because its driving I never thought of it as work before." Keisuke looked a little thoughtful.

"So is there something wrong with your car?" Molly asked, "Because it seemed to do really well last night. I'd like to get a chance to try it out soon."

"To be honest Molly," Keisuke paused. "I don't know how much time I'm going to have to show you how to drift. I really have to focus on racing and preparing for the Bow Tie Boys. You might want to ask one of the others, but not Takumi. He'll be just as busy."

Molly thought about it for a moment, it made sense, it was reasonable. "Well this is your job, isn't it?" She smiled.

"Right, I'll try to give you some pointers when I get a chance." Keisuke responded. He'd never anticipated anything like this. Especially from people who had been spying on them just a little more than a week before. The competition was good, and the people were nice as well, he hoped it would continue.

"I appreciate it." Molly said, taking a sip of her coffee. "I should stop holding you up though, I'm sure there's stuff you need to do."

"Hold on a second." Keisuke said. "Can I ask you something?" He said in a low voice.

"Sure." Molly said uneasily.

"What's up with Stevie?" Keisuke asked quietly. "I mean he doesn't seem like he's old enough to be retired but he doesn't seem to work. I'm just curious, that's all."

"Well," Molly started nervously, "He was working until just a year and a half ago. He used to run Hillside Auto. But one night they were getting ready to go, and Stevie had bent over to pick up his cooler. You know the big steal security door between bays 2 and 3? Well someone forgot to hold it for him, and it hit him in the head. He had a concussion, had to go to the Hospital, even had to go see specialist in Boston a couple of times a month for awhile. They put him through all sorts of tests, gave him some medication, he still can't smell properly from the meds, which is why he sometimes lets cars run way to rich. But after taking the time off because of the injury he just couldn't get back into the high pressure environment of the shop. Mike never really told me what exactly was wrong with Stevie."

"Oh," Keisuke said. Something he couldn't see something that wasn't obvious.

Ryosuke sat in the living room; he was flipping through one of the motoring magazines, while he waited for Takumi. He needed to talk to his young driver about what was going on, what was causing him to drive so, not recklessly, he was too in control to call it reckless, but insane. He heard the door to a room close followed by slightly uncoordinated steps thudding down the stairs.

"Takumi?" Ryosuke said in a low voice. Takumi turned slowly, scratching behind his head and yawning as he turned to face Ryosuke. His hair was messed up, and judging by the bare feet, and half opened eyes he had just rolled out of bed. "Come here, I have to speak with you."

"Alright, what's going on Ryosuke?"

"Last night, Matsumoto said that you were pushing far beyond the eighty percent we usually maintain while practicing. You understand why we have that rule, right?"

"Of course I do." Takumi responded, now fully awake as he knew Ryosuke was about to lecture him.

"Then why were you pushing so hard? We use practice to familiarize ourselves with the course, so that come race time we can push to the limit. It's also a safety issue. We can't have you flying off a turn through the trees ending up in the lake can we?"

"Right." Takumi nodded, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach.

"So why were you pushing so hard last night?" Ryosuke had a good idea of what Takumi's response was going to be.

"I don't like losing." Takumi said. Ryosuke noticed a slight change in his young driver, his eyes caught fire, his muscles went stiff, and there was a hard edge to his voice that wasn't there a moment before. "After the last race against Mike, I just don't want to lose again, I don't like to lose, and I don't want to lose again. I figured the only way to make sure I keep winning is to go faster in practice, so I can go faster in the race."Ryosuke nodded, he knew before hand it was going to be along those lines. It was good, he wanted to win, and it clearly pushed him to try harder, it was going to make him succeed. Takumi's quiet drive was going to ensure his success at the next level.

"Takumi." Ryosuke said slowly. "You have to understand that losing is part of racing. You didn't lose that race because you lacked skill; you lost that race because the '86 is not the racing machine that Mike's Cobra is. If you had been at Le Mans, the '86 would not have even been competing against Mike's Cobra. Losing is part of racing, and there's no reason to take things out on your car. It can only handle so much."

As Ryosuke spoke those last words Takumi thought back to his race against Kyoichi Sudoh. During that race Takumi had tried as hard as he could, fueled by pure emotion. He didn't want to go through that again, the thought of losing to the '86. . .

"You need to take it back a little bit in practice. I know you want to win, and you want to succeed, but you can't win races in a broken car."

•••

The sun was setting over Lake Auburn, reflecting red, orange, and gold off of the water's surface. A Marlboro Red Corvette convertible cruised along Lake Shore Drive. The top was down, the wind played through Bill's hair, and the exhaust note mixed with the whine of the Muncie four speed. Things still weren't going well, he had spent the last couple of nights at a friend's house to allow his dad some time to cool off about the race. This was the first time Bill had ventured to Lake Shore since he'd gotten home, he knew the others would need some time to cool off as well, especially Bryan.

The 327 V8 settled down to on idle as Bill pulled to a stop at the end of Lake Shore, he would have to go home at some point, his tools were there, most of his cloths, and the fact was he was afraid what would happen to the team if he didn't go home eventually. If he didn't do that he would have to start another team, or race alone. In a few minutes he was home, parking the car in the driveway, as it still wasn't too safe in the garage yet.

Amanda met him half way across the front lawn. "I heard you pull in." She said. "We haven't seen you in awhile," She said nervously.

"Yeah, I figured my being here would only make things tougher." Bill responded to his younger sister.

"You would think so." Amanda responded, "Dad's been going crazy since you left and Bryan's been harping after Dad to let him take over the spot in the driver's seat."

"Yeah, I figured that would happen. Have you guys been practicing?"

"Well, Bryan's tried to get things going, but after losing to Harvey and trying to prove to Dad that he's different than you they've been kind of short. I've still been going out in the morning before work?"

"Still?"

"Oh, I've been doing it for a long time; I knew I always had to work harder to prove I could be part of the team."

Bill smiled a little bit, but he knew just inside the door, he was going to catch hell. He went on anyways, he would have to face them sooner or latter. The door hadn't been shut for more than a second before Bryan sprung up off the couch, stalking towards his older brother with almost predatory intent.

"What the hell is wrong with you Bill? Do you realize what you've just thrown away?"

"Oh God, I can't even get in the door before someone goes nuts on me." Bill brought his arms up, and quickly dropped them back to his side in exasperation.

"Come on, if I had been given half the opportunities that Dad's given you I would have been in the Winston Cup Series already. He's always liked you better even though I'm a better driver."

"Shut up Bryan, if you're the better driver how come I still outrun you on Lake Shore every time. If you're the better driver how come I still run faster laps at all the ovals in the area? You just want Dad's attention, you want attention from anybody who will give it to you, that's why you challenged the most ridiculous car in the area to a race, and lost. Even you're billboard LS6 Chevelle couldn't beat a little old Galaxie! Yeah, people notice an LS6 Chevelle, especially when it's losing to a full sized car!" Bill roared.

Bryan almost physically staggered backwards, his older brother had told him many times before that the Chevelle was not the best car to be attacking Lake Shore Drive in, but he had never put it in those terms before.

"Alright Bill." Bryan said. Beginning to recover. "At least I didn't blow my big chance, wreck a car and destroy a whole racing season all in one swoop. Go ahead, waste your life driving past Taber's every night. But I need something better, I want something bigger than that and I will get it!" Bryan shouted, his voice booming through the house.

"Aww Fuck it! I expect to see you at practice tonight." Bill turned around and stormed out of the house.

"Way to go Bryan." Amanda scowled at her older brother, hands on her hips looking just over the top of her glasses. "You've got what you wanted. Dad said you could finish out the season for him, you've got what you wanted, you're gonna have your chance don't blow it." She admonished before leaving the room.

"You're an idiot." Andy scoffed as he walked past on the way to the kitchen.

•••

_That night, Lake Shore Drive._

The four cars of the Bow Tie Boys sat silent under the lights of Taber's parking lot. Bill stood uneasily in front of his brothers and sister, no doubt Bryan would have something more to say. It was awkward, his Dad would have been talking about him the entire time he was gone, about how he turned his back on his commitment, about how he was a quitter, how he'd given up, and wrecked the car to boot, and now he was wasting time, and his future driving Lake Shore.

"Alright." He began. "I know you guys know I quit Dad's team. I couldn't deal with the pressure he was putting on me to be something I'm not. NASCAR is not what I want to do, and rightly or wrongly I was the one he chose to carry out his dream. I just don't want to do it anymore." He paused. "Let's practice. We'll start with follow the leader."

Bill walked quickly over to his Corvette, leapt in and fired up the Fuel injected 327. His brothers and sister followed suit in their cars. He was nervous, he knew he had to prove a lot to them, at least to his brothers anyway, that he was still in control, that he was still the leader that the team needed. Bill put the car into first gear with a satisfying _Ka-chunck. _Bill nailed the gas, and began slipping the clutch for a good hard launch. Barley audible over the sound of the motor, and the whine from the Muncie four speed was the sound of the other's cars.

The Corvette roared as Bill hammered down the straight away. He was driving as if it were a race, giving that extra twenty percent, slamming home each shift, waiting until the last possible moment to hit the brakes, the soonest possible second to stand on the gas pedal, working the large wood rimmed steering wheel back and forth with each turn. He pushed the 'Vette harder than he ever had in practice before. He could feel it in the turns, the skinny tires pushed just to the threshold of their grip, just under the point where they would lose traction. In a brief second Bill was able to steal a look at the rearview mirror and could barely see the headlights of the next car behind him.

It continued that way for the rest of the practice. Bill never relinquished the first position. The rest of the team was stunned.

•••

"Chris, you won't believe what happened this weekend."

"Yeah," Chris responded, looking at his teammate. Chris was tall, just over six feet, with dark hair and blue eyes. "What happened?"

"One of the Bow Tie Boys lost the guy with the Chevelle." Chris' ears had perked up at the sound of that.

"What happened?" He asked. They had been waiting awhile for the Bow Tie Boys to show any sign of weakness. The reality of the situation was that the Bow Tie Boys were good, and all they did was win. The two teams had raced last summer, and it was close, but the Bow Tie Boys ended up sweeping Chris and his teammates. For the rest of that summer they had worked at becoming better eventually carving out a niche for themselves as the second best team on Lake Shore. They were waiting, watching for the slightest sign of weakness from the number one team, and now it looked like they had their opportunity, there was a chink in the armor.

"Alright, we'll challenge them this weekend." Chris said, his eyes narrowing. "Who did he lose to?"

"Some old guy, in a big old Ford." Dave said. "Oh, and Jen has spotted a couple of cars floating around, that look like they might be challengers at some point."

"What, are they serious?" Chris asked.

"It looks like it, there was a kid with an old '86, it had a carbon fiber hood, and watanabes. There was also a guy with a late model RX-7 that had a really nice body kit and sounded wicked strong."

"An '86 with watanabes? You can't get those easily around here, do you think these guys aren't from around here."

"Jen did say they were both Asian, she said there was a sticker for the _Red Suns _on the RX-7, but she didn't see any stickers on the '86, so I suppose it's possible that they aren't from the same team."

"They're not just posers, are they, I mean anybody can stick a carbon fiber hood on an '86, and body kit a RX-7."

"No Jen, said the kid in the '86 wouldn't drag her on Route 4, either he knew he couldn't stand up to her, or he's more experienced and won't get baited into a race. She spotted the guy with the RX-7 at WalMart, and he took it wicked easy in the parking lot, you know how posers drive, they race at the stop light even when you don't challenge 'em, and they raise hell in parking lots. The make us all look bad."

"Right." He paused, "We'll see how this pans outs."

"So how's the Prelude?"

"It's fuckin' beautiful. I got that new chip put in, it's getting over 200 to the wheels, and it's really quick now." Chris smiled, as he thought about the Prelude, it was a 1996 model, in black, and it was fast, sure it had its problems, being front wheel drive wasn't really that good, but it just took a little while to get used to, and a different set of skills, but it also had weight on its side too, it wasn't as heavy as Dave's 3000GT, and the motor was stronger than Jen's turbo B16. It would be interesting to see what happened if they were able to race the two new guys.

"You know what?" Chris asked, "I think I'm going to go take a spin on Lake Shore." He said before Dave had time to respond. "I'll see you in a little while."

Chris walked out to his black 1996 Prelude, and fired it up. The VTEC motor settled to an idle. In a couple of minutes he was ready to leave, and made his way across Auburn to Lake Shore. It was dark as Chris turned down Lake Shore, and immediately stepped it up, feeling the continuous surge as the motor went into VTEC mode as he held the revs above four grand, the motor wailed away. He could see in the turn out a handful of cars, it was hard to make out the make and model at the speed he was travelling. He didn't really give it a second thought as he continued down Lake Shore, feeling the touch of understeer as he entered corners, but it was easy enough to deal with, he knew how to handle the car, he was used to it.

The Prelude under steered the worst on the tight corners following Taber's, all it meant was that Chris had to get on the brakes earlier than other cars, but he practiced, he knew where the latest point was that he could safely brake for the turn, and carry the most speed. In a few minutes he was at the other end, feeling good about being on Lake Shore for the first time in a couple of weeks. As he turned the car around Chris thought about the other cars that had been sitting along side Lake Shore. It was probably another team practicing, most likely the Bow Tie Boys, but with the news that Dave had given him, it was worth checking out and making sure.

As he made his way back down Lake Shore towards Route 4 he saw a pair of bright headlights coming in his direction, and they were coming fast. To be safe Chris slowed down and pulled further over to the side of the road. In a blur of color the car was past him, turbo screaming, and tires squealing. "Wow what was that?" He thought. He was really interested as he approached the turn out where he had spotted the cars before. Trying not to be conspicuous Chris tried to keep his speed reasonable, but wanted to make sure he saw who was there, because they were evidently racers of some sort or another. Out the passenger window he saw the small group of cars, and a pair of vans. An '86, a Silvia, a GT-R.

"What the fuck, a GT-R!" Chris almost yelled, he kept trying to look out the back window as he drove away, trying make sure that he really saw a Skyline. "No way, these guys have to be for real."


	9. Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 9 Calm Before the Storm.

Takumi settled into the driver's seat of the 86, preparing for the next round of practice. Keisuke had done his practice earlier, right after Nakazato and Kenta who hadn't had a chance to practice the night before. Takumi knew everybody was watching, waiting to see what he would do, if it would be a repeat of the night before, to see if he would continue to jump off the deep end.

Matsumoto climbed into the car, a little nervously and began to set up his laptop. What Ryosuke had said that morning still played through Takumi's mind as incredibly irrational as it was Takumi knew he had a deep emotional connection to the little old '86. Maybe it had come from countless runs delivering tofu on Mount Akina, maybe it was because the '86 he had totally realized his potential before in this car. The thought of something breaking 6,000 miles away from home was horrifying; if the motor blew again they wouldn't be able to get a replacement in America. What would he do then? Crate the car up and ship it back to Gunma while the rest of the team continued to race?

It was a difficult thing for Takumi. He knew he had to take it easy for the sake of the car, but at the same time, he knew that he needed to push harder if he was going to remain one of the fastest drivers. If he was going to keep winning he knew he needed to push harder. The twenty year old ace took a deep breath.

"You ready?" He asked Matsumoto.

"You know it." His mechanic responded with a half hearted smile, still afraid of what Takumi could possibly unleash.

Takumi gave his instruments a quick check, before blipping the throttle as a sign he was ready. Alongside Kenta stood with one hand raised and a stop watch in the other. His hand dropped and Takumi launched his trusty old '86 harder than most other practices, but not as hard as the night before. The tachometer mounted on the steering column spun wildly as the '86 accelerated, in no time Takumi had shifted to second, keeping the engine singing in the high RPM range. He gripped the first set of turns, carrying awesome speed into the straight away past Taber's. The parking lot lights were only a bright flash as the '86 charged towards the next turn.

Takumi was right on target with his braking and heel-and-toe downshifting. He drifted the turn because the slight downhill angle of the road aided him. The road continued downhill and looped to the left at the bottom and began to climb again. The rise was pretty quick and the road turned back downhill again through another series of turns.

Takumi felt good about his practice run as he approached the last turn, a sweeping left hander that was banked in such a way as to allow him to take the turn at a good clip. He felt good because it had been a good practice run and he didn't feel like he had sacrificed too much all out speed.

"Good run." Matsumoto affirmed as they crossed the finish line. "You keep practicing like that and nobody will be able to beat you."

•••

Molly leaned against one of the Project D vans, the Takahashi brothers close by. Something Molly couldn't understand came over the two way radio the elder brother held by his side.

"Good." He responded.

"He was a lot easier than last night." Keisuke commented, "Maybe what you said had a real affect on him."

"I hope so." Ryosuke responded. He knew if Takumi was going to be able to succeed at the next level he would have to learn to treat his machine well and how to control his emotions. Takumi was such a controlled and restrained person in most cases, but in certain situation, his emotions ruled him, with driving becoming his safety valve. The only problem was the strain it put on his car, which often affectively became his whipping boy. The car could only take so much, and if Takumi's emotions continued to rule, it would reach the breaking point sooner rather than later.

"Are you ready for your run?" Ryosuke asked his younger brother.

"Of course." Keisuke responded, exhaling smoke out his nostrils. "I'll be ready when Takumi gets back."

Molly watched as Keisuke sauntered over to his bright yellow RX-7. He was cocky, she knew it, and usually that annoyed her beyond belief. But Keisuke was different, because unlike so many others; he had the right to be cocky, he was skilled, extremely skilled, he could make his car do things that she had seen very few people do, and he won races.

Molly watched as the Panda Trueno pulled into the turn out. Just as Ryosuke was headed towards it there was a roar as the younger Takahashi took off down Lake Shore. The leader of Project D looked almost casual as he spoke with Takumi a weight had been lifted off his shoulders with the way his younger Ace had responded.

"How was it tonight?" Ryosuke asked, letting out an imperceptible sigh, at the look Matsumoto gave when he exited the 86 was enough to ensure that Takumi had taken it back a step for the nights practice.

"It was good." Takumi responded. "Matsumoto has done a real good job keeping it tuned well. I'm getting more familiar with the course, it's not very long, but the elevation changes are what make it challenging. It's pretty fast but it seems like relatively slow speed turns are thrown in almost randomly."

"I noticed that as well." Ryosuke mused.

"There's also some subtle bumps in the road." Takumi noted, "But overall the surface is really good."

"Good." Ryosuke said. "How comfortable are you with this course?"

Takumi thought about the question for a moment. "I'm fairly confident, like I said, if it weren't for quick elevation changes it really wouldn't be that difficult."

"Would you be comfortable with a race this weekend?"

"With another couple of practice runs, and maybe a trip out on a bicycle I would be able to do it."

"Ryosuke nodded. "Good take some time, and get ready for your second run."

"Alright." Takumi responded.

A short distance away Molly had taken an interest in Nakazato's GT-R. Mike had been talking about the GT-R for a long time, it was one of a handful of cars from Japan that he considered to be on a similar footing with his Cobra. The Acura NSX, Toyota Supra, and Mazda RX-7s being the others, they were all good cars, each with its own set of positive attributes, but they all lacked power, or resulted to turbocharging, and Mike hated turbos. Because of the way they dealt with Project D at the shop no one had really been able to give the car a good looking over. Now it sat not two feet away with its hood open. It seemed to loom over the orange Silvia sitting next to it.

Cautiously Molly made her way towards the car, walking around the back of the S14 as she could at least look at some of the cars in case Nakazato took offense. On the outside, it wasn't very impressive. Certain elements clearly had a purpose, the rear spoiler, the beefy tires, the low stance. But overall the styling was, well . . . awkward. It looked like it was a little confused as to what it was. Molly could see a lot of cues from American performance cars, but with a different twist.

Underhood Nakazato and Matsumoto were checking something. Molly peered from a respectful distance. She could see the top of the motor and the air intakes.

"Still trying to spy on us." A voice came from under the hood.

"No." Molly answered coyly. "What good would it do anyway, we've already raced you guys. I just wanted to see what this thing is all about because to be honest it's not that much to look at."

"Looks don't make a car go fast." Nakazato said with a slight edge in his voice.

"True." Molly responded, "But going fast in style is always great." She moved to the front and stood next to Nakazato looking at the engine bay. "Wow, that's kinda weird."

"What?" Nakazato asked.

"It's a straight six, with," She paused for a moment, "Twin turbos. It's just so odd to me to see a straight six as a performance motor. I mean here, if you had a straight six in the '60s it wasn't a performance motor unless it was an XKE."

"That doesn't mean it isn't." Nakazato said quickly, in defense of his trusty car. Although he was very impressed at Molly's knowledge of cars, most girls wouldn't have been able to tell that it was a straight six, let alone pick out the fact that it was a twin turbo.

"I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just not used to seeing it, that's all." Molly responded. "I imagine it's like you seeing a pushrod V8."

She was right after all, the idea of pushrods to Nakazato seemed foreign for a performance motor, and really almost any type of motor as almost no Japanese cars had used pushrods in more than twenty years

•••

Chris looked at his teammates gathered around the kitchen table, it was their regular weekly meeting. They would get together, order a pizza or two and talk about their plan of action for the week. The get together helped to keep them all informed about what was going on; to share information on perspective opponents, talk about cars, just hang out, have a few beers, and a good time.

"There's another challenger out there." Chris said, and his teammates looked a little confused.

"What, you mean that old car that beat the Bow Tie Boys last weekend?" Sam said. He was shorter than Chris by a good six inches, and thin with buzz cut blonde hair.

Chris shook his head. "No, another team, and they're hardcore."

"What makes you say that?" Jen asked.

"They have a Skyline GT-R." Chris looked at his teammates reactions, the GT-R was their holy grail, the mythical beast that had been hidden away for the JDM since 1989 with performance to allow them to take on anybody.

"How do you know this?" Josh asked.

"I saw them out on Lake Shore a few nights ago, the GT-R was parked in one of the turnarounds with a couple of Ford vans, a S14, and an old AE86. These guys look like a serious travelling team. Does anybody know anything?"

"I've heard of a yellow late model RX-7 that looks and sounds pretty nasty." Sam said. "Some people said they saw it leave Wal-Mart a week or so ago."

"You said there was an old 86? Was it black and white with a carbon-fiber hood and Watanabes?" Jen asked.

"It was black and white, but I don't know about the hood and wheels, it was dark after all." Chris responded, "Why?"

"I pulled up next to one a week ago on Route 4. I tried to get the kid to race, but he wouldn't. I think it was a right hand drive."

"Right hand drive?" Chris snapped.

"Yeah why?" Jen asked, "It was some Asian kid driving."

"Do you know what this means?" Chris asked, suddenly very intense, he leaned forward over the table, his eyes bigger than normal.

"No?" Josh answered as if it were a question.

"A right hand drive 86, a GT-R, Asians, these guys are from Japan!" They all let out a collective gasp. Why would a Japanese team come to America? "Do we know anything else?" Chris asked.

Everyone was silent for a minute, then Sam piped up.

"Oh wait a minute, the yellow RX-7 has a sticker on it, _Red Suns _someone told me."

Chris didn't say anything, he bolted for the room where his computer was and plugged _Red Suns Japan _into a search engine, he followed the first link to page in Japanese, but what he was able to discern from the page was that there were two people driving RX-7s for this particular team, an FC and an FD, which would fit their suspected late model car. When he clicked the _translate this page _tab it came back in something like English. Under the _Drivers _heading on the page there was a list of names and their cars. The top two drivers were listed as driving RX-7s, and next to each person's name was, _with Project D. _Chris followed the link unaware that his teammates had crowded into the small room.

The Project D website popped up and Chris translated the page again, and his jaw dropped. The list of the team; an '86, an RX-7, an S14 and a GT-R for their American Expedition. The last two times posted for races were two weeks earlier in Massachusetts.

"Shit." Jen hissed. "These guys are wicked hardcore. Are we seriously going to race them?"

"Of course we are." Chris responded. "This weekend."

"Do you really think we stand a chance?" Josh asked Chris.

"Of course we do. They're 6,000 miles away from home, driving a course they've been on for what? Two weeks at the most? We've been driving Lake Shore for a long time, it's our home course."

"Yeah, but we still haven't knocked off the Bow Tie Boys, and they've been doing it longer than us, these guys are from Japan, they wouldn't be here if they weren't damn good." Josh said.

"What's the worst that happens? We lose, well that's happened before, but if we lose we can sit back and watch them go at it with the Bow Tie Boys if we win, we can go and challenge the Bow Tie Boys." Chris said.

•••

Molly prodded the piece of bacon in the pan so that it would cook evenly, the cool early morning breeze flowed through the kitchen as she stood there. The trees swayed in the breeze and the sun was bright. In the other room Project D, led by Ryosuke was sitting down to their breakfast that doubled as a driver's meeting. It was Friday night, they wouldn't be practicing. It was the day to prepare the cars, make sure everything was in perfect shape for the race. The drivers would watch videos of the course for practice purposes but would get to bed early so they would be rested for the races the following night. They talked, they laughed, and it seemed like they were having fun.

"Ryosuke, I have a question?" Matsumoto said.

"What is it Matsumoto?" Ryosuke responded.

"Are we still planning on using fuel additives, or are we going to be able to locate the sort of fuel the cars should be running?"

Ryosuke arched an eyebrow, with all the confusion of moving the operation to Stevie's house, as well as the problems Takumi was having, the fact that Stevie said he could get them good gas had been shuffled to the back of his mind.

"I'll talk to Stevie." He said, "He might be able to see about getting us some aviation fuel, but he did say it wouldn't be much, or for long. If we get the right fuel for the cars you can tune them another twenty percent higher."

Matsumoto nodded.

Molly walked in, holding a plate of bacon in one hand, and a plate piled high with more than a loaf of toast. She placed them in the center of the table.

"Help yourselves boys." She said happily. Stevie really wasn't the best host, at least as far as food was concerned, so somebody had to do it.

"Thank you." Ryosuke said, with a slight bow. "Do you know when Stevie is going to be up?"

"Not really" Molly responded leaning back so she could check the clock placed over the refrigerator. "It's almost ten though, he should be up soon. Why, do you need to ask him something?"

"Yes, about getting good high octane gas for the cars."

"Aha." Molly said knowingly, she could get away with running fuel additives in her Tiger for awhile because she wasn't going to be doing any racing, it was just a pain in the ass having to put a bottle of stuff in the gas tank every time she filled it. "I'll have to make sure that I go tonight too. I could use some in the Tiger."

Soon there was a thudding as Stevie walked down the stairs. He opened the door and Molly and Ryosuke stepped over to him, and started in on getting the high octane gas.

"Stevie," Ryosuke said in a respectful tone.

"Morning." Stevie responded.

"I was wondering if it would be possible for us to get some good high octane gas before the race."

"Of course," Stevie responded, "but like I said this is going to be the only time I'll be able to do this."

"I understand." Ryosuke said, giving a slight bow. "I know that high octane gas is a luxury that we may not always be able to get it and if it is available, I want to get it as long as we can."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. The last time I was in Medway I bought a tank of it for the Pantera, it was like it grew muscles it has lost, and it just ran so much better, stronger."

"Hmm. I've noticed that as well. When do you think we'll be able to get the cars to the pumps?"

Stevie screwed up his face and rubbed his middle finger into his side burn as if he was scratching it. "Well, seeing as we're really not supposed to be doing this, we should wait until after dark, maybe a half hour or so, because Route 4 is pretty heavily travelled. Because you will want to have some time for your mechanics to tune the cars to take advantage of the fuel."

"Of course." Ryosuke responded.

"Do you think you're mechanics will need help tonight?" Stevie asked. "They do have four cars to prepare for the races."

"I wouldn't want to impose." Ryosuke said. Stevie has already helped them so much by allowing them to stay at his house and use his garage, he didn't want Stevie to feel like he had to do more. But at the same time he could tell that Stevie genuinely wanted to help, he clearly liked working on cars, and for him it was just fun, something he liked doing, something he was good at. "As long as you don't have anything else to do." Ryosuke said after a few moments of careful consideration. "I'm sure Matsumoto could use your help."

"Good, it never hurts to have a second set of hands." Stevie smiled. "I'll go make the call to the guy I know down at Twitchell's." Stevie went to the kitchen and picked up the phone to call.

Molly walked back over to Ryosuke and gave him a playful bump of the hip. He sort of looked down at her, confused, especially since he had never seen anything like that from her before. Molly smiled back up at Ryosuke and this was the first time he realized how much taller than Molly he was.

"You seem happy." Ryosuke said cautiously.

"Yeah, Mike is going to be here tonight." She gave an exaggerated toothy smile while holding both her hands close to her face giving the thumbs up sign. Molly really didn't know what had come over her, not to long ago she had been very intimidated by the Takahashi brothers. It must have been the excitement of seeing Mike for the first time in a little over a week.

"Ah, you two spend a lot of time together. You're not away from him much."

"No." Molly responded. "It's been awhile since we've gone this long without seeing each other, that was back in college."

"College?" Ryosuke arched an inquisitive eyebrow. "Mike went to college?"

"Oh yeah, that's actually where he met John."

Ryosuke arched an eyebrow again, it didn't really surprise him that Mike went to college, he was clearly intelligent, but it just wasn't common for someone running an auto shop to have a degree from a traditional university.

"What did he study?"

"Oh, history, especially American History." Molly replied.

"Hmm, I wish I had known he was coming sooner, I would have asked if he could have brought up some of the high octane gas. Or do you own a truck that can haul it?"

"Of course we do." Molly responded, "And you won't believe what it is."

"Really." Again Ryosuke arched an eyebrow. "And what would this truck happen to be?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. Because I'm not sure I could explain it right. I'm sure Mike will be driving the SHO tonight." Molly said coyly.

•••

Mike finished loading the CD changer in the trunk of his Taurus SHO with a selection of music. He tossed the one (the one what) back he had packed along with a tent and sleeping bag into the trunk before closing it. Mike leaned against the car and lit a Lucky Strike. Back in the barn Fox was just climbing into his Mustang, he and John were going to go out looking for trouble as usual, and after the races with Project D there was going to be no shortage of people wanting to challenge them. Mike exhaled smoke out his nose and looked at the sky, there was still some light. When making this trip it was always better to wait till after dark, there was less traffic and with a radar detector and a rabbit you could fly.

Mike dropped his cigarette and stomped it out before climbing into the driver seat of his car. He turned the key and fired up the 3.0 litre V6, it made sounds that didn't come from other V6 engines and it had some good power too. It may not have been the ultimate performance car, but it was a nice way to cover long distances fast. Mike slipped the clutch a little and pulled out of the driveway, behind him Fox's Mustang roared into life.


	10. Here We Go

Chapter 10 Here We Go.

Amanda had parked her Nova in the parking lot of what her family called the Hippie church. It was directly opposite Lake Shore Drive on Route 4 and made for a really good place to check oil, tire pressure and anything else before heading off on a run of Lake Shore. She had just replaced the oil dipstick when she heard the sound of motors coming from the distance. It was the more high strung sound of small displacement motors, but there was some rumble in there. Amanda put the hood down and turned around to search for the sound.

Across the street Amanda spotted the string of headlights coming down Lake Shore. There were more cars there than Amanda was used to seeing for one team, it seemed like all she could remember was teams with four or five drivers, but she counted at least seven sets of headlights. Slowly she moved to the driver's door, not sure why. If it had not been for the street light at the end of the road she would not have been able to see the cars. The first one was a Pantera, followed by a string of Japanese cars, and then a blue Sunbeam Tiger.

Amanda hoped into her car, and fired it up. The 350 V8 erupted to life. Something was going on here, something that she wasn't used to. With the exception of the Pantera and the Tiger none of the cars looked like anything she had seen associated with the local tuner crowd. The tires squealed briefly as Amanda launched her car out of the parking lot. She had to make sure to keep her distance because the person in the last car might be able to recognize her.

With 300 yards between her and Molly Amanda tailed the small group of cars north along Route 4. It wasn't important where they were going, but the fact that this sort of team was out there, it was a new team, a new threat, especially after the debacle with the Galaxie. Just a few miles down the road all their directionals went on indicating a turn to the right. A turn into the airport. Thinking quickly Amanda ducked into the gas station across the street, one of those ones with a convenience store attached to it. She walked in and walked quickly to the drink cooler in back to grab a grape soda, and hurried back to the front to pay.

Outside again Amanda leaned against her car and looked over towards Twitchell's across the very quiet Route 4. Soon, one by one headlights came across the airport. Each car crossed over Route 4 and headed down the road that ran next to the gas station. All the Japanese cars left first followed by the Sunbeam Tiger and then the Pantera that had been in the lead earlier. Once the Pantera had crossed Route 4 Amanda had her Nova fired up in a matter of seconds. She had to go tell Bill what she had just seen.

•••

All the lights were on in the barn as Mike pulled up in his SHO, and that meant that Project D was still tuning their vehicles. He could see Molly standing just inside the barn door, looking out towards the road. As soon as Mike was out of the car Molly was running the short distance from the barn towards him with a wide grin on her face. With just a few feet left she jumped up on top of Mike and planted a big kiss on his cheek.

"Nice to see you too." Mike said. "What's going on in there? I didn't think they would need to tune their cars again?"

"Stevie was able to sneak them off to Twitchell's to get some avgas in the cars because you know, not being able to get 102 like we sell." Molly smiled at Mike.

Mike tossed his bag over his shoulder and walked arm and arm with Molly into the garage. The black and white Corolla was on the lift with a couple of crew members leaning over the fender. Stevie manned the tire machine, and to Mike's left sitting at one of the work benches was Ryosuke, not a hair out of place, not a speck of dirt on his clothes. He sat in front of his laptop, the one clean and civilized spot in Stevie's barn cluttered with tires, wheels, and other assorted car parts.

"Hi Ryosuke." Mike said, "Looks like you guys are busy tonight."

"Yes." Ryosuke responded. "I hadn't planned on being able to find good gas in this area, but now we can step up the tuning. I'm working on the tuning for my brothers car right now, it takes more than Takumi's car."

"Anyway I can help?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, can you work that tire machine so Stevie can use his on the car spin balancer. Fumihiro is good, but he can't use machines that he didn't know existed until just a few hours ago."

"Alright, just let me go get changed and I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Mike responded, before turning and heading for the house.

In a few minutes Mike was back in the barn running the tire machine. Together they worked into the night. Each Project D car took its turn on the lift, fresh tires, a check of the suspension, final adjustments and checks and double checks on the engine and engine systems and all the fluids. It was well after midnight when the last car rolled off the lift to be parked outside.

The whole night Ryosuke remained intently focused on his computer screen., running his simulations over and over again. The team needed to succeed, for both Keisuke and Takumi. The team needed to succeed and they needed to grow just a little more. They needed to learn more, but ultimately Project Ds goal had not changed from the previous summer in Japan, it would just be impossible to dominate all of America.

When all was said and done Ryosuke leaned back and rubbed his eyes before closing his laptop. Everything was as good as it could be, the cars were tuned to perfection, he had some of the best mechanics working for the team, not to mention the help of Mike and Stevie. They were as prepared as they could be, the tapes, the nightly practice sessions, they were probably better prepared for each race here in America than they had been each weekend back home.

"It's a good thing your neighbors don't live to close to you or they would be mad at us." Fumihiro commented to Stevie.

"Yeah, but I don't know that anybody would really make a big deal out of it, I'm usually as quiet as a mouse."

•••

Takumi watched as Stevie set to work balancing tires on his car. He paused for a moment to reflect on the fact that he had never seen a contraption like that, which was probably why Stevie was using it and Matsumoto was not.

What Takumi was really focused on was his black and white AE86, the car he had driven thousands of miles since he was 15. The car he had driven countless nights over Mount Akina, in the rain, in the cold and snow. He was going to win tomorrow night, he knew it. It didn't matter what the other team threw at him or how long they had been driving the road, he was going to win, and the 86 was going to take him there.

The young Ace closed his eyes, and he could see the course, flashing by at high speed, trees blurry, houses just brief flashes of light on the side of the road. That peculiar glow that headlights seem to give to the surrounding night. He could almost hear the radical 4AG singing towards it 11,000 RPM redline. G forces tugging at his body, the feel of the steering wheel in his hands. The whole course played through, every angle of attack on every turn, taking not of the best places to pass and the places where it would be a bad idea to pass. He was ready. Ready to prove to Ryosuke, his father, Natsuki, and . . . Mike that he was one of the best in the world.

His jaw clenched a little tighter, nothing was going to stand between him and victory tomorrow night or any other night for that matter. Takumi walked over to the tire machine where Mike was working.

"What's going on kido." Mike said, realizing that he was at most two or three years older than Takumi, who looked at him intensely.

"Why are you helping us so much?" Takumi asked, only trying to hide his emotions the slightest bit.

Mike was taken aback by the edge in the kid's voice.

"I dunno." Mike shrugged, trying to come up with a reason why as he tried to figure out how the kid who seemed like such a space shot just a week or two ago was now so intense.

Takumi continued to stare him down.

"You can stare at me all day Takumi, but it's not going to intimidate me. This is America. I grew up watching Clint Eastwood westerns." Mike joked. Takumi didn't seem to know who, or what he was talking about.

"Why are you helping us?" Takumi reiterated.

"You know why kid." Mike paused, a slight edge in his voice. "Because it's been a long time since I've raced anybody as good as you, and on top of it your whole team has tons of skill. You guys deserve every leg up you can get. I mean come on your six thousand miles away from home, competing against drivers you know nothing about on courses that you get maybe a week to practice on at most." Mike paused again, "And because you gave me one of the best races of my life. You have tons of talent and I can do little things to help. Besides, I can't let just anybody beat you." Mike cocked a smile and chuckled a little.

Takumi lightened up a little bit, he knew Mike wasn't taunting him with the fact that he had lost but because it was something he had done that nobody else in Medway had done. He was just being selfish and sincere.

"I look forward to racing you in the future." Takumi said. "And next time I _will_ win." Suddenly that edge returned to his voice, full of fierce determination.. Somebody with that kind of drive was going to go far.

"Haul ass tomorrow night." Mike said.

•••

Amanda walked into the house and headed straight for Bill's room, he had to know about what she had just seen out on Route 4. The door was closed as it had been since he had come home. He didn't want to deal with Brian or their dad. She knocked softly, hoping that Bill hadn't gone to bed.

"Yeah?" Bill grunted, Amanda opened the door and poked her head into the room. "Oh it's you." Bill said, "What's up?"

"I just saw something out on 4 that I think you should know about."

"What's going on?" Bill asked his younger sister.

"I just saw a group of cars out on 4, a whole bunch of stuff that I've not seen before, a Pantera, and a Tiger, but there were also five Japanese cars, a couple of RX-7s, an old hatchback, and a couple that I don't recognize."

"Oh." Bill said, not sure where his sister was going with this.

"I think it's another team that's come to challenge us." Amanda said.

"Ok." Bill answered, "but they're just a bunch of Japanese cars. Even Brian can stomp all of them, the rest of us won't have any problem."

"Bill, I don't think these are just any bunch of tuners." Amanda persisted.

"Come on this is exactly what we knew was going to happen. Brian loses to that damn Galaxie and every asshole who has delusions of being a real driver comes out to challenge us because we're top dog that whimpered. I bet that damn Chris and his team show up tomorrow night too." Bill sighed. "Don't worry about it Amanda, we've practiced forever, we'll still come out on top. Now we should get some sleep, goodnight."

"'Night Bill." Amanda sighed as she headed for her room. He was ignoring her again.

•••

"Shit." Keisuke hissed under his breath as he put the cap back on the empty deodorant stick and flung it in the direction of the trash basket. He grabbed the keys to his FD and began twirling them on his finger as he walked through the house.

"Keisuke? Where are you going?" Keisuke stopped and turned to look at his older brother.

"I just have to run to the store and grab some deodorant." Keisuke said matter-of-factly.

"Were you planning on walking? Or did you forget that you're not supposed to drive your car until tonight?" The older Takahashi looked sternly at his younger brother.

"Shit, the gas." Keisuke said. "Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow." He shrugged.

"I can take you." Molly volunteered. "I don't have to worry about the gas in the Tiger since I won't be racing." She snatched her keys off of the kitchen table and headed for the door. "Come on."

"Alright." Keisuke shrugged and followed her to her car.

"Maybe you can give me another lesson in drifting while we're out." Molly said as she climbed into her dark metallic blue Tiger.

Keisuke climbed in as well, glad that the small car was a convertible, he might not have fit if the top were up. It was an awful close fit, and unlike most of the cars he was used to there was no center console to at least create the illusion of space between the passenger and driver, just a shifter coming straight through the center tunnel.

Molly pressed the gas and waited a second before turning the key. The venerable Ford small block erupted into life and took its time settling down to its normal warm idling speed. _God this thing is weird. _ Keisuke thought to himself. The motor was so strange to him. It was loud at idle, it rumbled, it vibrated, it did what his FD didn't, it was a totally different world from the quiet smoothness of the Mazda rotary engine. No doubt Molly's car had power, it was practically dripping it. The car seemed to grab him by the throat and throw him around until he begged for mercy, but somehow Keisuke wanted to know, wanted to grab the Tiger by the tale and tame it.

Everything from the exhaust note to the smell of unburned high octane fuel to the open air to the way the top of the door was just the right height to make a good armrest. It was all intoxicating, and he wasn't even driving.

Molly snicked the shifter into reverse and skillfully, gently backed out into the road and headed towards downtown Auburn.

At the end of Lake Shore Drive Molly notched the shifter into first gear, looking for her opportunity to get onto Route 4. Keisuke was amazed at how well Molly manipulated the gas and clutch to launch the car onto Route 4. She didn't launch it like it was a race but it wasn't lazy either. Keisuke's mouth almost dropped open at the acceleration, the car pinned him back quickly and forcefully, in a way that the FD didn't. His car was very quick off the line, but the Tiger was a whole other animal.

"You like that." Molly smirked as she shifted from third to fourth.

"It's impressive." Keisuke said, trying to hide his surprise, and the smile that was threatening to spread across his face.

"It's the torque from the V8." Molly said as the wonderful sound of the V8 engulfed the two. It wasn't long before the two had arrived at the local Wal-Mart. A few minutes later they walked out again, Keisuke carrying a blue and white Wal-Mart bag.

"That was all you needed to get." Molly chided.

"You knew that before you volunteered to drive me here." Keisuke fired back.

"I don't know if my car can handle all the extra weight. It's going to upset the balance." Molly complained.

"Ha ha." Keisuke retorted as he sat down in the car. "Keep it up and I won't teach you how to drift." Keisuke threatened.

Molly made a face like a puppy dog. "But I want to learn." She said.

"Well what place could we do it today. It doesn't seem like there an empty parking lot anywhere."

"Of course there is. No school on Saturday." Molly responded, and took off in the direction of the local high school.

•••

Mike stood on the porch, watching the last minute preparations of Project D, he stood there knowing that he could hop into Molly's Tiger just before they all headed for Roy's, the cruise night, and the showdown with the Bow Tie Boys. Soon enough everybody was headed for their cars. Mike vaulted from the porch and headed for the Tiger where Molly was waiting. In the brief span of half a minute all motors were fired up and ready to go, more than 1400 horsepower between five cars, just waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting public.

Ten minutes later the multinational convoy pulled into Roy's. There were only a few vehicles in the parking lot for the cruise night that early. Ryosuke insisted they be early to make sure they had first shot at the Bow Tie Boys. The team followed Ryosuke's lead and parked on the fringed of the lot, knowing that they did not fill the age requirement of cars being 25 years or older, and that they clearly did not meet the unspoken requirement of driving anything _but _Japanese cars. Some people didn't pay any attention, others scowled from a distance, sure that the dominant force of Project D was nothing more than tuner kids who thought they could play in the big leagues.

Project D, along with Mike, Molly, and Stevie made their way around the few cars that were in the parking lot that early in the evening. Soon more classic cars and trucks began to show up. Eventually another team showed up, driving Japanese cars, like Project D they entered the parking lot quietly, not wanting to offend anybody beyond their presence. Ryosuke watched from a distance, sizing them up. In a few seconds his supercomputer brain reached the logical conclusion. They were there for the same reason as Project D. To Challenge the Bow Tie Boys. The four drivers made a bee-line for the Project D cars, paying particular attention to Nakazato's GT-R, and Keisuke's bright yellow FD.

In a few more minutes the sound of high performance V8s was heard. Leading the way into the parking lot was Bill in his Corvette, followed by Andy, Brian, and Amanda. Brian revved the Rat motor in his Chevelle, immediately drawing the attention of everybody in the parking lot that wasn't already looking in their direction. People started walking in the direction of the four Chevy's, drawn by the thumping and burbling V8s like moths to a porch flood light.

"Fumihiro." Ryosuke nodded in the direction of the Bow Tie Boys.

"On it boss." Fumihiro responded, and began to make his way towards the front of the group that had gathered around the cars.

"Excuse me." Fumihiro said a little bit louder than other people in the crowd.

"Yeah?" Bill said as he opened the hood of his Corvette.

"I represent Project D, from Japan, and we would like to challenge you to a race tonight." The crowd crew silent surprised at the revelation of a team from Japan.

"Funny, we're here for the same thing."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_Sorry about the long wait, school was crazy and it's been difficult for me to find the time to work on this, but don't worry, there will be more to come soon. Thanks for reading and be sure to leave me some reviews and let me know what you think, especially all you folks from around the world._

_Thanks Margave._


	11. Poker Face

Chapter 11. Poker Face.

"Well, then it looks like we have a problem." Bill said, looking at Chris, and at Fumihiro. "You know we can't race all of you in one night. So what are we supposed to do?" Again he looked back and forth between the representatives from each team.

"No ideas? Well why don't you two teams race, and we'll race the winners next weekend?" Bill said.

"Hey, I hardly think you're in the position to dictate who you're going to race and when. You just lost to some old Ford sedan." Chris protested.

"Do you want to race us or not?" Bill snapped. "The only way you get to race us is by racing those guys over there." Bill pointed in the direction of Fumihiro and Project D.

"Fine," Chris grumbled, eyes narrowing, "How many drivers does your team have?" He asked, knowing full well.

"Four, what about you?" Fumihiro asked.

"Four." Chris looked slyly. "What are we supposed to do if we tie?"

"I'll race." Ryosuke said from a few feet behind Fumihiro. "You can pick anyone of your drivers to race against me." The members of Project D stood there stunned over a year ago, the great Ryosuke Takahashi; the White Comet of Akagi had retired from racing. Now he stood in a parking lot in Maine as the last resort for Project D if they were to tie with the locals.

"Alright, I'm sure you know the drill, your driver, and ours, standing start."

"We know the drill, what will your lineup be?" Fumihiro asked.

"Josh in his MX-3, Jen in her Civic, Scott in his 3000GT, and I'll go last in my Prelude."

"Alright." Fumihiro said, "Good luck."

Ryosuke thought about the opponents, an MX-3, a Civic, a 3000GT, and a Prelude, he knew nothing about the cars, or the drivers. What he knew was that they were the second best to the Bow Tie Boys, and Project D had proven itself against the best in Japan time and time again. Realistically there was very little for him to worry about. It was easy to see that they had arranged their racers to clearly go from worst to best, clearly shown by the fact that the leader Chris was driving the last race.

"Kenta, get ready you'll be racing first." Ryosuke finally said.

•••

Two hours latter Kenta's S-14 was lined up against the black Mazda MX-3. The diminutive Mazda sported an aftermarket body kit and wheels, with white tap graphics on the hood and along the flanks of the car. On paper it wasn't exactly a fair match up. A small front driver against the bigger engine rear drive S14. By all respects Kenta had the better car even though he had modified the engine much. But like all the other cars the Project D drivers would be facing they knew nothing about the MX—3.

Ryosuke walked up to the orange S14 as it sat lined up with the little MX-3. Kenta looked up at the leader of Project D from the driver seat, waiting for Ryosuke to say something.

"Kenta. I know you haven't raced in awhile. So remember to stay focused. You have horsepower advantage, but don't rely on it."

"Yes Ryosuke. I won't disappoint you." Kenta responded with enthusiasm, thinking to himself that this would be a good opportunity to impress Keisuke as well, and gain more respect. Kenta stabbed the gas pedal once quickly, the international motorsports signal that he was ready to race.

The started stepped to the shoulder of the road. "Drivers ready?" He called in a loud voice. "Ready. . .set. . .GO!" He yelled and pulled his hand down quickly.

Kenta stomped on the gas pedal, and launched hard, easily pulling away from the front wheel drive Mazda. Josh pulled in behind the S14 and started to play catch up.

As the two cars approached the first significant turn Josh had gained back most of what he had lost because of the MX-3s slow start. He was close enough to be within striking distance of Kenta's S14. Kenta charged up the hill flowing smoothly into the first right hand turn as the hill climbed towards Taber's, as he turned the wheel and gave the engine more gas to compensate for the hill. Suddenly the rear end felt light, and began to slide. At the crest of the hill the suspension of Kenta's car had unloaded, the strange circumstance where the body of the car continued to travel up the hill, but the wheels still maintained contact with the road. For the split second while the body of the car was still headed upwards the tires have greatly reduced traction as there is very little weight on them.

"Shit!" Kenta yelled when he realized that the rear tires had broken loose. He clutched the wheel, the sensation of weightlessness telling what had happened. Reflexively he knew the worst thing he could do would be to change any of his inputs on the controls because as soon as the body came crashing back down on the suspension, slamming the suspension against the stops built into the frame would multiply the affect of the cars weight, causing the car to shoot off in whatever direction the front wheels were pointed, into a field, a bush, a tree, or something worse.

The S14 slammed down on the suspension stops with a bang, and the car pogoed for a second, sliding sideways as it scrubbed off speed. As his car slid Kenta watched the black MX-3 sneak past. He put the gas pedal down and counter steered. He lost all forward momentum, almost burning the rear tires off the wheels. By the time Kenta recovered it was too late. He pushed himself, pushed the car, but he couldn't catch up, the gap was too big.

•••

"Stupid kid." Keisuke scoffed when he heard what had happened. _Why did Aniki invite him on this expedition anyway? _He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, exhaling deeply. One down, three to go.

Ryosuke looked at the hot metallic pink Honda Civic coupe that sat on Lake Shore Drive waiting for an opponent. Kenta had lost and now there was the possibility that he might have to race, slim as it might be, the great Ryosuke Takahashi might have to come out of retirement.

"Nakazato." Ryosuke said in little more than his normal voice.

"Yes?" Nakazato said as he stepped forward. He knew he was going to race tonight, he just hadn't known when.

"You're up." Ryosuke said. "We don't know anything about these racers, so be cautious. Your GT-R is more than strong enough to beat a Civic, this course almost perfectly tailored for your car. I'd like you to follow her, hang back and make sure you don't wind up like Kenta. You can win Nakazato."

"Yes." Nakazato responded before heading for his car.

Keisuke looked at his older brother. "Aniki." He began, "I know Nakazato clearly has the advantage here. Like you said, this road was almost made for Nakazato's GT-R, yet you're asking him to hang back, why?" Keisuke exhaled smoke out his nose.

"A couple of reasons." The elder Takahashi said in a low tone. "Nakazato need to be tested, he a very good driver, and is most effective when he can employ an aggressive driving style. He gets frustrated easily, and will crack under pressure. If he can learn how to control his temper and hold up under the pressure he will be one step closer to being a great racer.

"The Bow Tie Boys are also paying very close attention to us. There's no need to tip our hand and give them more to prepare for and use against us." _And if Nakazato can't hold up under the pressure I'll get a chance to race again. _

At the starting line Nakazato's big black GT-R stood in dramatic contrast to the small hot pink Civic. Fumihiro stepped forward and approached the driver's door of the Civic.

"Excuse me." Fumihiro said, addressing the driver. "In Japan it is customary that the more powerful car start in a follower position as a way to equal the playing field. We thought it would be fair to offer you this courtesy."

Jen looked back at Fumihiro, contemplating her decision. Her and the guys had done a lot of work on her car, it was fast and she was a good driver. Deep down however she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance against the twin turbo torque of a GT-R in a side-by-side start.

"How would that work?" She finally asked.

"The more powerful car would start from a position directly behind the less powerful car. The follower won't start until the leader has already started. If the chasing car passes the leader, he wins."

Jen thought for a moment, knowing it was realisticly her only chance at winning. "If he doesn't pass me, I win?"

"Yes." Fumihiro responded.

"Alright, good luck." Fumihiro said, as he signaled to Nakazato to line up behind the Civic.

Nakazato looked at the Euro-style taillights on the back of the Civic. Thinking about the ridiculousness of being asked to hang back against such an inferior car. He knew Ryosuke had ulterior motives besides just playing it safe. However, Ryosuke was nice enough to invite him, he should at least follow his instructions.

Nakazato clicked the shifter into first gear, waiting for the Civic driver to start. He waited for a few seconds, hands clenched tight around the steering wheel, the boost gauge and tachometer twitching with every blip of the throttle. _I know where I'm going to make my move. _Nakazato thought to himself, his lips curling in a demonic grin.

With a flash the Civic coupe lunged forward, a split second latter Nakazato was on the gas in the hunt for a bright pink Civic. It wasn't difficult for him to get close to the rear bumper of the Civic. The first part of the course was essentially a straight away that had a minor left hand kink in it. Already Nakazato was itching to unleash the full fury of his GT-R.

_I can't let Ryosuke down. _Nakazato thought as he slammed him the shift into third gear. _I have to show him I deserve to be here. _He narrowed his eyes, focused on the car ahead. With his right foot down, he closed the gap quickly, but he had to lift again to prevent swallowing the little Honda.

Both cars quickly climbed the hill towards Taber's. The scream of the four cylinder mixing with the bassy sounds of the Nissan six cylinder, periodically punctuated by the whoosh of a turbo blow off valve. The cars went down the straight away as fast as the Pink Honda would go. Nakazato knew that this would be the best place to pass. The place where he could make the most use of the nearly 400 horsepower that rested under the hood of his GT-R, but he would have to make his move latter on, and he knew exactly where.

Engines cackled as both drivers stomped on the brakes to slow down for the right hand turn at the end of the straight away. Nakazato followed closely on the bumper of the car ahead of him. Through the next couple of sweeping turns Nakazato's frustration was climbing, and they were only roughly half way through the course. "I hate going so slow!" Nakazato yelled.

•••

"They're just past the second checkpoint." The voice came over the radio. "Nakazato is still behind."

Ryosuke smiled a little to himself, knowing that he might be having an affect on Nakazato's demeanor behind the wheel, but conflicted at the same time. Until the idea had popped into his head no more than a half hour ago he hadn't realized how much he missed racing, how much he wanted to be competitive behind the wheel, how much he wanted to be the _White Comet _again, now his hopes for a last fleeting snatch at the thrill of driving, the thrill of competition, and sizing up the other driver and finding their weakness, knowing that the next opportunity to exploit that weakness would lead to victory. . .

. . .And Nakazato, and his new found self control was poised to snatch all that away, and there was no way his brother or Takumi were going to lose.

•••

"Grrr! I hate this!" Nakazato roared as the two cars approached another turn _Almost there, gotta stay calm._ He reminded himself. _Only one more turn. _ He gritted his teeth, and pulled the reigns a little tighter. The road straightened out, and just ahead Nakazato could see the next turn, the long banked left hand turn.

"Go!" He shouted, and moved to pass, taking the inside line away from Jen in the Civic. He kept his foot even on the gas, knowing that if he kept the input even, the electronics would take care of most of it. The banking of the turn helped the GT-R turn. The garish pink Honda was behind him in the matter of just a few seconds, and Nakazato was powering out of the turn towards the finish line.

"Here we go!" Nakazato yelled with a maniacal grin he put his foot down, and headed for the finish line feeling free in actually being able to let his GT-R run.

•••

"Nakazato won!" The voice called over the walkie talkie. Ryosuke's heart sank a little, glad that Nakazato had won, but disappointed at the same time that there would be no reason for him to race. Outwardly his expression barely changed, and almost nobody was paying attention, happy that Nakazato had won, and the next two races were almost secure with the famed Double Aces waiting.

From a little ways off though, Mike noticed that slight change in Ryosuke's face, and he knew immediately hat was going on. _Once a racer, always a racer. _ Mike thought to himself as he pulled out his pack of Lucky Strikes, the wheels in his head began to turn.

"Cigarette? Mike asked as he walked up to Ryosuke.

"Thanks." Ryosuke said as he reached for the cigarette.

"Now that you guys are even I'm sure the rest of this is a lock." Mike offered.

"We won't know until it's over." Ryosuke said, a confident smirk on his face. "But I like our chances."

"Yeah. What about next weekend? Against the Bow Tie Boys."

"I'm not sure yet, I think we match up well, but this is a fast course, well suited to the big engines of the Bow Tie Boys. The numerous straights play to their advantage in at least two of the races." Ryosuke said, and Mike knew that he meant they would be have a good chance against Kenta and his S14, and Takumi and his Corolla. It was true, the small displacement four cylinder, even with modifications like the motor in Takumi's car couldn't match the mountains of torque the V8 engines could provide at a moments notice.

"It's a pity tough." Mike said., taking a drag of his cigarette.

"What?" Ryosuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Barring some sort of catastrophic failure." Mike paused. "You're not going to get to race. I really wanted to see that."

"I just said that as a way to keep them happy." Ryosuke answered, trying his best to hide his surprise. "I have total confidence in my team." Ryosuke said exhailing smoke out his nostrils.

"Ah, well, it served its purpose. If only they knew what they were up against they would have seen how slim their chances were." Mike said. He knew Ryosuke was lieing to him, he could sense the tension just underneath the surface, the soul of a racer waiting for the cage door to be opened and set loose again. What Mike didn't understand was why Ryosuke didn't race, and how difficult it was for one of the most dominant drivers from Gunma prefecture to sit and watch his brother and Takumi continue to succeed.

"Keisuke, are you ready?"

"Of course I am Aniki." Keisuke responded with his typical cockiness.

"Stay back this time, we don't want to tip our hand to the Bow Tie Boys the 3000 GT is heavy, so he won't be able to corner with your FD. You know this course, you know where to make your pass. Good luck." Keisuke gave a quick half bow and headed for his car.

Keisuke Takahashi, half of Project D's famous Double Ace combination pulled his bright yellow FD up to the starting line next to the pale yellow Mitsubishi 3000GT, running along the beltline was a pair of red and purple stripes intertwined.

"Woos." Keisuke said to himself as he looked at the car, the color combination seemed more than a little effeminate. A smug smile creeped onto his face, he knew, just as he had always knew that he was going to win, and unlike the races in Medway, or against Godfoot he didn't feel any sort of real challenge. Of course every race was challenging in some aspect, whether it was the course, or the weather, or the other driver, but not this time.

The Mazda rotary whirred and the blow off valve cracked as Keisuke stabbed the gas to signal he was ready. His competitor in the 3000 GT gave a similar response. The starter raised his hand, seconds latter, with roars from both motors, and hisses from turbochargers the two cars lunged forward. It was easy for Keisuke to match the acceleration of his competitor, staying next to all the way down the main straight. At any moment all Keisuke needed to do was apply more pressure to the accelerator and he would take the lead, but that wasn't the plan.

The Mitsubishi was directly to the right of Keisuke he put on the brakes and fell into line as the two cars took the slight right hander and then began their climb through the left hander that followed. In a flash both drivers were hard on the gas, engines roaring as they passed the cheering spectators in the Taber's parking lot. The powerful lights on Keisuke's car illuminated the night ahead of him, the other cars, and the stand of tall pine trees where the road turned to the right, and beyond the trees Keisuke knew was Lake Auburn.

Again, Keisuke ht the brakes and followed the local driver into the tightest turn on the course, the 90 degree right hander. Turbochargers hissed like venomous snakes as the two competitors accelerated quickly down the short straight. Keisuke spotted an opportunity to pass he knew he could out accelerate the Mitsubishi and take him on the inside, but he held back. The sweeping left hand right hand combination would be a good place to pass, but his brother had asked him to hang back.

Keisuke stayed right on the bumper of the other car, following closely through one of the section that gave Lake Shore Drive it's name. He waited until the long banked left hand turn. At the last moment Keisuke pulled out from behind the 3000GT, taking away the inside lines, a tap of the brakes to shift some weight to the front wheels and bring his speed down just enough. With his foot back down on the gas pedal Keisuke powered through the turn and exploded on the last straight.

The smirk that had been tugging at the corners of his mouth for most of the race spread into a smug grin.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Sorry it took so long for me to update this story, I've been wicked busy this summer, with work, and all the other stuff I've got going on, I just haven't had the time to write, but that should be changing soon. Keep reading, and I'm always looking for reviews,

Thanks,

Margrave.


	12. Music is the Answer

Chapter 12 Music is the Answer.

"I don't like this one bit." Bill said leaning against his Corvette.

"Me neither." Amanda seconded letting out a sigh.

"They're bullshitting us." Bill said. "Except for that first dumbass driver the other two passed in the same general area. All that tells me is that at any second, at any point, they could have passed and taken the race anytime they wanted to."

"Yeah." Amanda responded. "How are we going to prepare for this, we don't know what they're really capable of?"

"We'll have to prepare the same way we always do." Bill answered his younger sister. "We'll have to be on top of our game."

"Right, well look at this." Amanda said as Takumi pulled his 86 up to the starting line next to Chris's black Honda Prelude.

"Jeez, an old Japanese hatchback, like that thing really stands a chance against almost anything made in the last ten years."

"Yeah, I know." Amanda responded, it looked like they were going to get to see that white RX-7 race as well.

At the starting line Takumi sat tensely in his trusty old 86. Next to him, thrumming away was the black Honda Prelude, the 2.2 liter VTEC motor not really hinting at the super high revs the motor could reach, but then neither did the radical 4AG residing under the naked carbon fiber hood that could rev into the stratosphere. Ryosuke had given him the same instructions that he'd given to the other members of project D, but he knew that was not in the cards for him, not tonight.

His eyes narrowed, this was the first race that he had been in since losing to Mike in Medway and now the very person who had bested him was watching from the sidelines. Takumi could almost feel the fire burning in the pit of his stomach, the fire to win, to show Mike that he was one of the best. He knew he was going to obliterate his opponent and put the whole crowd on notice that he was for real. The young driver wrung his hand on the steering wheel determinedly.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Mike asked Ryosuke as both watched the starting line.

"It won't be a heavy day, maybe going over the cars, checking vitals like fluids, tires, and suspension. Probably start later in the morning after the late night of racing."

"Ah, how about we go to breakfast tomorrow morning, start your day off with a good meal."

Ryosuke thought about for a little while. "I think that would be alright."

"Good." Mike answered and to punctuate the sentence there was the scream of engines and Takumi's 86 launched hard into the night.

Outwardly Ryosuke didn't change, but inside his heart sank a little bit. Takumi hadn't listened to him. He seemed determined to ignore Ryosuke. The Panda Trueno and the black Honda stayed close for a few seconds and the trusty old hatch back came on cam and the gap between the two cars began to grow.

Takumi didn't smile as his lead began to grow on the black Honda, he just focused straight ahead listening to the engine scream out its high rev opera. The needle on the tachometer climbed towards 11,000 revs, and Takumi slammed home the shift to third gear. A quick dab on the brakes brought his speed down enough to take the turns going up to Taber's Takumi hit fourth gear as he screamed past the small hot dog and ice cream stand.

"Holy Shit!" Someone yelled. "Did you see how fast he was going?"

Chris watched from the driver's seat of his car, knowing that Takumi was on a whole different level, the taillights on the 86 kept getting dimmer and dimmer. _Damn, that kid is fast. _Chris thought.

Takumi pushed his 86 for all it was worth entering turns as fast as he could, getting on the gas at the soonest possible moment, pushing the little motor to its redline and a little beyond. He flew through the sweepers punched down the straight. Chris's headlights, mere twinkles in his rear view mirror. The young ace charged into the last turn, the 86 sticking to the banking like glue, the needle on the tachometer climbed higher, crept up close to the redline. . .

Something happened, the engine note changed, power dropped off. Takumi put the clutch in, knowing something had gone wrong. He felt something cold crawl into his stomach which suddenly felt as if it weighed 200 pounds. He went numb, he knew the steering wheel was clasped tightly in his hands, and the pedals were under his feet but he couldn't feel them. Takumi coasted across the finish line with the clutch in.

The black and white Toyota rolled to a stop at the end of the street. Takumi listened to the engine, and his heart almost stopped, it wasn't dead, but it wasn't right either, and he knew it. He slotted the shifter into first gear and nursed the car around the corner and parked it in front of Stevie's house.

•••

"Takumi won." The voice on the other end of the radio said, and Ryosuke immediately knew something was wrong. "I don't know what's up, but the motor doesn't sound right."

Ryosuke let out a barely audible sigh. Something had to change. In a few minutes Chris was back and the two teams exchanged handshakes.

"Good luck next weekend." Chris offered as he shook Ryosuke's hand.

"Alright. We'll see you guys next weekend." Bill's voice boomed over the crowd. "You'll know where to find us." He turned back to his Corvette and drove off, his brothers and sister following.

•••

"What's the status Matsumoto?" Ryosuke asked his chief mechanic.

Matsumoto stood up from under the hood of the 86, rubbing his hand with a rag. "One of the valve springs on the intake side of number two has broken."

"Hmm," Ryosuke said. "How bad is it?"

"It could have been worse." Matsumoto said. "The pieces were big enough so they didn't get sucked down the intake port. The valve spring and valve need to be replaced. The good thing is that there was not damage to the cylinder wall or piston."

"How long will it take you to fix it?" Ryosuke asked.

Matsumoto pulled a face. "I don't know, given that this spring failed we need at least that one, but I think we should do all of them, just in case it's a defect with the springs. I don't think it is, but this is a competition."

Ryosuke nodded, "Alright, do it." Ryosuke said. A few minutes later Mike walked through the door from the house and down the steps.

"You ready for this?" Mike asked.

"Yes." Ryosuke responded, thinking about heather it was the right decision to still go to breakfast, but he had said he would go the night before. Ryosuke plopped down into the black leather passenger seat as the 3.0 liter V6 settled down to an idle.

"Alright, you ready for this?"

"I didn't think breakfast was something you had to get ready for." Ryosuke said matter of factley.

"This breakfast you might have to, but that's not what you need to be ready for." Mike paused as he got the Taurus SHO underway. He pulled the grubby old Red Sox had down lower and Ryosuke wished Mike wasn't hiding behind those reflective aviator sunglasses. "From what I know about you and your team things don't really add up. I could never imagine going to Florida looking for street racers to challenge, let alone another country. Yet here you are with the rest of Project D in tow. You told me you didn't race, but it sure as hell looked like you wanted to last night." Mike paused. "I'm not gonna pretend that I understand you totally, or your culture, but it looks to me like you're running from something, trying to escape something. Just give this a listen."

Mike hit the play button mounted to the steering wheel, the speakers throbbed with the distinctive opening bass riff of The Who's _Real Me. _ Neither man talked much as they made their way towards Dixfield. Ryosuke listened to the music, at first giving it a critique, picking out the distinct feature, the guitar, the heavy use of synthesizers on _Quadrophenia, _how part way through there seemed to be a shift in the music, but as he listened to the lyrics the music began to speak to him. Just before the first CD ended Mike pulled the SHO into a small dirt lot next to a house that didn't look like it was a restaurant.

"Was that the end of the CD?" Ryosuke asked.

"Oh no." Mike said. "There's a whole other CD, How do you like it so far?"

"It's not what I usually listen to, but it's clear that this is a very talented group. I've never heard drums like that. He doesn't play a really conventional style." Ryosuke gave a rather clinical view of the music.

"Yeah, come on let's eat." Mike had seen a little something in Ryosuke's face, maybe it was working.

•••

"Here you go boys." The waitress said as she placed the plates of food down on the table.

"Alright Ryosuke, forgive me if I'm being to forward, but what's the deal, you used to race right? And from what I've heard you almost all your races, why quit?" Mike asked he knew that Ryosuke wouldn't give him a straight answer around the rest of Project D, he also didn't know for sure that he was going to get a straight answer away from the team.

Ryosuke didn't flinch, running through the possibilities in his mind. If Mike had been asking the team members they would have told him. That meant only one thing.

"You know someone in Japan." Ryosuke said, knowing Mike might not give him a straight answer.

"Yes I do." Mike said. "She used to be part of our team but here family moved to Japan. She contacted me a week ago after she checked the Project D website and found out that our teams had raced."

"Yes, I used to race." Ryosuke said after swallowing a mouthful of food. "I was the leader of the Akagi Red Suns before I formed Project D."

"You were good." Mike smiled, "I've heard you were known as Akagi's White Comet. You helped put an end to the local domination of a group of semi-pro racers on their home course none the less, and that you only lost to Takumi two years ago."

"Well your friends certainly told you a lot." Ryosuke responded. "It's true, I didn't lose much. I did help stop the Lancer Evolution team." He answered modestly.

"Alright then, you're clearly a very skilled driver, you're also very intelligent, why stop racing?" Mike asked, a little apprehensive about whether Ryosuke was going to continue talking.

Ryosuke didn't respond right away, he took a drink of his coffee and looked back at Mike. "I have family obligations." Ryosuke said, and he paused. "I have to take over my families medical clinics. I've been studying for years. It's because of this that I had to stop racing and focus on helping my brother and Fujiwara excel. They both have lots of talent, but they each need to learn more and train before they are ready for the next level. Neither of them have the family obligations that I do."

"Right, so you're essentially living vicariously through your brother and Takumi." Mike said with a smile trying to keep the mood light.

"Essentially." Ryosuke responded. "But what about you?"

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, popping a piece of bacon into his mouth.

"I saw you race Fujiwara. I know your time around that course. You are also a very skilled driver, and mechanic, and you don't appear to have extraneous obligations that would prevent you from becoming a professional, and yet you run a gas station and race Populatic."

Mike looked across the table. "You know I've never really thought about it. You know I race because it's fun because I enjoy doing it. The thrill of speed, the wind in your face, the animal power of the engine." He shrugged. "I just think I would lose some of that by going pro. Besides, racing in America isn't what it used to be. NASCAR is king, Trans Am isn't what it was in the '60s and early '70s, we don't have anything like touring car racing until next year when the American Le Mans series starts. I love racing for the sake of racing."

"I can respect that. You would make a very good professional driver, though, many teams would be lucky to have you."

"Thanks." Mike responded, knowing that a compliment like that from someone of Ryosuke's skill and caliber. "You done? There's still a lot of Quadrophenia to listen to." Mike cocked that slightly crooked smile.

"Alright." Ryosuke answered, leaving his half of the bill.

The sounds of The Who's _5:15 _set a quick tempo for the drive home.

•••

The members of Project D sat around the kitchen table. Ryosuke mulled over what Matsumoto had just told him. Nobody in America had the valve springs for the motor in Takumi's car. Matsumoto had contacted people in Japan and found out it would take at least a week to have the parts delivered to Maine. What was for sure was that the car would not be fixed in time for Takumi to get in any real serious practice time before next weekend's race against the Bow Tie Boys. He would either have to drive someone else's car, or not race at all.

For Takumi, sitting on the sidelines was not an option however. He needed to race to keep his skills sharp. Have to drive something other than the 86 would be a good learning exercise for him. It might even help the young Ace make the transition to the next step.

"I'm still going to race next weekend right?" Takumi asked Ryosuke.

"Of course." Ryosuke answered. "It's just a matter of what car you're going to be driving." Ryosuke said, quickly running through the options, Kenta's S14, underpowered, Keisuke's FD, maybe, it had more power and a good suspension, the FC, no! Nobody else ever drove the FC. Nakazato's GT-R? To big, it would take too much adjusting, the weight, the all wheel drive. "What would you prefer to drive?"

"I'm not sure." Takumi answered slowly, in that sort of spaced out tone of voice. "I think Nakazato's GT-R is to heavy, and I'd really not want to risk Keisuke's car. Especially since we prefer different settings, we wouldn't really be able to change those between races. So I'm not sure what I would like to drive."

"You can drive my car if you want." Molly piped up from the other room. "It would pretty much solve all of your problems." She said walking into the kitchen. All of the members of Project D looked at her. "You wouldn't have to worry about changing settings or extra wear. Its gonna be lighter then the GT-R, so if you'd like you could use my car."

"It's a very generous offer." Ryosuke said, working his way to a polite refusal, the whole time thinking about all the benefits. They wouldn't have to change settings, each driver would get the right amount of practice, and they didn't risk losing another vehicle. It also provided a unique opportunity for Takumi, he would be able to experience an entirely different version of performance car, a different way of thinking. And being someone else's car, especially someone from outside the team might reign Takumi in out of respect for someone else's machine.

"It's really no big deal." Molly said trying to ignore the foreboding knot in her stomach. She loved her blue Tiger and would hat it if anything ever happened to it. "We built it to race." She said, smiling at Takumi, "Just don't hurt her."

"Thank you, I won't." Takumi said, bowing his head slightly to the dark haired women leaning against the doorjamb. He was immediately a little worried, he'd never driven a foreign car before, he'd never driven a care with more than four cylinders or a displacement of 2.5 liters. He didn't know almost any of the specs on any Sunbeam Tiger, let alone Molly's modified car. Takumi knew he would have to adjust and it would take some time for that to happen, he also knew that he couldn't push a borrowed car the same way he would push the 86, they would have to start soon.

•••

Bill sat alone in his room, mulling over the events of the previous night. Those guys from Japan could be a serious test, they might be the best challenge to the Bow Tie Boys, they could be a serious threat. That was why he was alone in his room, starring at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do. After he quit his dad's racing team Brian had been making a bid to try and oust Bill. He kept pushing, he was arrogant young and bullheaded. Bill knew Amanda was behind him, but Andy seemed to sit on the fence. Any crack that Brian perceived he would try to exploit. Project D was a real threat.

As soon as the second race was over Bill knew what was going on. Project D was hustling them. The Project D drivers were not driving as hard as they could so as not to tip their hand to Bill and his brothers and sister. The first two drivers probably didn't realize it, but when they both passed in the same general area Bill knew for sure that they were trying to hide their talent. The only question that remained now was how good were they? The kid who drove the old Toyota hatchback had driven like a man possessed. When the little Toyota's motor screamed there was no doubt that the driver was top notch, the real question was how good were the other drivers? Two of them were driving what the Japanese sold as performance cars, and the driver who had shown the most talent drove the old worn out hatch? So the other two must have been very skilled racers, more so then the driver of the old Toyota.

It was going to be a huge challenge.

•••

Mike tossed his duffle bag in the back seat, and looked up to see Ryosuke walking towards him. "Come to see me off?" Mike joked.

"In a way, yes." Ryosuke said. "I actually wanted to ask you a couple of things."

"Sure, what do you need?" Mike asked.

'High octane gas for next weekend's race. I'll pay you of course."

"Of course." Mike responded. "How much are you going to need?"

"Four hundred and twenty liters or 111 gallons."

"Ah, I'll bring 155, I have 55 gallon drums to transport."

"I'd also like to ask a favor."

"Alright, what do you need?"

"I'd like you to bring your Cobra next weekend, after the race I'd like you to take Takumi for a ride, maybe let him drive if you're comfortable with that."

"I'll be here, the car will be here, and the gas will too, we'll see where it goes from there." Mike answered.

"Alright." Ryosuke said, knowing that Mike would almost certainly take Takumi for a ride.

"Here, borrow this for awhile. I'm sure you didn't come all this way without something to play CDs with?" Mike said holding out the double album _Quadrophenia. _ "The booklets helpful."

"It's alright." Ryosuke said, trying to refuse politely.

"Listen, it's no big deal, I have a vinyl copy at home, and I know it's a lot to take in in one listening."

"Thank you." Ryosuke said as he clutched the plastic case.

"I love the guitar at the end of _5:15. _I'll see you Friday night." Mike said as Ryosuke turned and headed towards the house.

A minute latter Molly was next to Mike while the SHO idled beside them.

"You're coming back next weekend, right?" Molly asked

"Yeah, Ryosuke wants gas, and he wants me to bring the Cobra. Says he wants me take Takumi for a ride."

"I don't want you to go." Molly said, making a pouty face.

"Oh come on, you know I have to run the shop, besides, I'll be back next weekend." Mike said, stressing the last part of the sentence. He knew she was just goofing around. He gave her a quick hug and a kiss before jumping in the SHO and heading for home.


	13. Epiphany

Chapter 13. Epiphany.

"Can you see the real me, can ya? Can ya?" Roger Daltrey's voice san through Ryosuke's headphones. After reading the album booklet a couple of times, and listening to the CDs three times, he was still trying to figure out how Mike thought the music would help him. He had almost nothing in common with the main character, Jimmy, a schizophrenic teen with multiple personalities, trying to figure out his own identity, embracing a culture as his reason for living, trying to fulfill the expectations of that culture. Time after time being let down by people he thought were his friends, his idols, using drugs and alcohol as an escape, eventually rejecting all of it because it wasn't him.

How was he supposed to identify with Jimmy? It didn't make sense, Ryosuke knew who he was, what he was suppose to do. He'd never used drugs, never drank heavily. His friends, his teammates had never let him down, never abandoned him. There was nothing for Ryosuke to rebel against, his family made sure he had whatever he needed to succeed. The touge racing community had made him a god, his parents were going to make him a doctor.

_Can you see the real me, can ya? Can ya?_

That was it. . .The racing community had always respected him, they had never tried to make him out to be what they wanted him to be. He loved racing, everything about it, the skill of driving, the ability to tune a vehicle to it's optimal performance, the thrill of speed. His parents, his father had always wanted to make him a doctor. A very well respected profession that would always support and provide for him. They had never liked his racing, it was dangerous, it showed no promise, it had not future because at any moment it could kill him. When he brought Keisuke into racing they still protested, but not as much, it was keeping Keisuke out of trouble. His parents didn't care what he wanted, and he respected them and their family honor to much to rebel. Unfortunately his parents just didn't understand, his heart, his passion was racing, his heart would never be behind him as a doctor, he knew that racing was really his only calling.

If he let his parents force him into becoming a doctor he would regret if for the rest of his life, he would always long for the thrill of the race, the challenge, the fun, now he knew what he needed to do, who he really was, the person he had been denying himself.

A racer a, a white comet,

A leader, where do we go next?

A genius, this is how we'll beat him

A driver, my heart beats with the engine,

_Can you see the real me?_

•••

Ryosuke brought Takumi outside and stood next to Molly's car. Ryosuke knew a little bit about the car but he had never seen one before. He'd been trying to get a good look at the Anglo-American hybrid, he was intrigued by the vehicle, it was a learning opportunity.

"You have to be careful with this machine. Takumi it's not like the 86." He said.

"I know." Takumi responded sleepily.

"The Americans do things very differently from what we're used to. They build big engines that don't need to rev as high, but produce much more torque without with out using turbochargers. The result is often a very fast, very quick car that tends to be more nose heavy. The myths about American cars not being able to handle are not always true. It helps to understand what the manufacturers and buyers were thinking."

"Right. Have you ever driven an American car?"

"I have, it was a couple of years ago. . ."

_June 1995, Takahashi Home._

_"I hear you're interested in cars Ryosuke?" Dr. Sakae asked from across the dinner table. He was an older gentleman, a close friend of his fathers from medical school._

_"Yes, sir." Ryosuke answered respectfully. "I've been working on my RX-7 for awhile now."_

_"You race?" The older man asked._

_"A little." Ryosuke answered._

_"I also happen to be a fan of automobiles." The doctor answered with a smile, looking at the doctor to be._

_"He's not being totally truthful with you." Ryosuke's father said. "He loves his cars, I couldn't go a day in med school without hearing about one car or another." Both men chuckled._

_"You should see what I brought tonight. Come lets go take a look." Dt. Sakae stood and Ryosuke quickly followed excited to see what waited in the drive way. Perhaps a new NSX, or a GT-R, what he saw was not at all what he expected._

_"It's a . . ."_

_". . .Mustang." Dr. Sakae finished for both of them. "It's a 1992 GT 5.0 litre V8, with a 5 speed manual transmission." The Doctor said proudly._

_"It would be nice if Ford would export these cars." Ryosuke said as he walked slowly around the dark red hatchback, it had a spoiler integrated into the hatch, sitting on well polished brushed aluminum wheels and a pair of chromed exhaust tips. It was good looking. The interior looked good as well._

_"Would you like to take it for a ride?" Dr. Sakae asked._

_"No thank you sir, I would be much to afraid of damaging your vehicle." Ryosuke responded politely._

_"It's alright. I trust you won't do any damage."_

_"I appreciate the offer Dr. Sakae, but I must refuse." Ryosuke bowed his head slightly._

_"Then I must insist." The older man opened the driver's side door for Ryosuke. "I would be insulted if you refuse. Here are the keys, have fun." If he'd resisted anymore Dr. Sakae would have pushed him down into the driver's seat._

_Headlights, fog lights, directional, windshield washer and wipers, shifter. Ryosuke took stock of his surroundings before doing anything, looked for the controls, how they were laid out and the overall design of the interior, which seemed to be right on the cusp of being 1990s, but still with a lot of 1980s influence. Next Ryosuke put his left foot on the clutch, and pressed. . .and then pressed harder. It was much heavier than almost anything he had driven before. With a twist of his wrist Ryosuke was assaulted by the brute force of the Ford 5.0 V8, it roared in front of him, the exhaust letting out a rumble at the back of the car. Shear power in its rawest form. The driver's seat shook a little as the whole car rocked in time with the motor, and Ryosuke's spine began to tingle, climbing all that way though his heart and finally visible manifesting itself in a childish grin that remained for a few fleeting seconds before Ryosuke regained his composure._

_Slowly he backed the car out of the driveway, really just letting it roll backwards out onto the street. Not really sure of where to go, but knowing he shouldn't be gone long Ryosuke eased off the clutch slowly and fed the engine some gas, afraid the clutch would pop up on him and stall the car, or worse light up the rear tires right in front of Dr. Sakae. He cruised around in the red Mustang for a little while, adjusting to the shifter being at his right hand, and being on the wrong side of the car. The engine rumbled and burbled as he drove along, smaller cars seemed to scurry away in fear of the car making all the angry sounds. _

_At last he couldn't resist it any longer, sitting at the wheel of any performance care would ignite the same interest, he had to give it some gas. From 2500 revs in third gear, he gave the car a healthy shot of gas. Instantly he was shoved back in his seat so violently the only response he had was to take his foot off of the gas and let the car coast for a little while._

_Before he'd even realized where he was going Ryosuke found himself at the base of Mount Akagi. He hadn't intended to go there, but as long as he was here. . . He started up the mountain, loving the veracious torque available at low RPMs. On the way up he tested the suspension a little bit, so he could really test it on the way back down. It was of course day time, and he wouldn't be able to drive the Mustang the way he would drive the FC, but he could still give it a good test._

_He sat at the top of the mountain for a few moments and took a quick look at all the gauges, temp, oil pressure, battery. The tires squealed, and there was a little shudder as the quad shocks worked to control the axle hop, and did a pretty good job of it. Ryosuke was slammed back into the seat, but this time he held on, the RPMs climbing, the engine roaring as if it was angry and wanted to kill him. He banged home shift after shift, and he set up for the first turn. He hit the brakes briefly. He turned in, it understeared a little bit, but Ryosuke knew with the amount of torque. . ._

_He gave it some more gas, and the back tires came lose and the car rotated into a slight power oversteer. If he hadn't been alone, or if he'd really been trying to record a good time, he wouldn't have had the delighted, almost child like grin. He pinned the gas at the exit of the turn, and briefly, let it all out before getting on the brakes to slow down for the next turn. It was easy to coax the rear end our, to hold it at a good angle to maintain oversteer. He kept grinning the whole way down._

_At the bottom of the mountain all Ryosuke wanted to do was turn around, go up the mountain and then come back down again. To hear the engine roar, the tires squeal, the smell of the rubber. Like a kid getting off of a rollercoaster, all Ryosuke wanted to was go again. As so often happened his sensible side won out, and he headed for home._

_Grinning the whole way._

Ryosuke thought a moment longer, yes the Americans did have a different approach to performance cars, big motors, big cars, lots of torque. Takumi would be able to adjust, it was really just a matter of how quickly, and whether or not he would be ready for the battle with the Bow Tie Boys. Molly walked over as the two men looked at her car.

"If you're good I might let you drive it too." Molly said playfully.

"I would like that." Ryosuke replied, with only a hint of a smile.

"Come on, let's go." Molly said as she headed for the drivers side.

Ryosuke watched as Molly explained how to start the car assuming Takumi was not familiar with carbureted engines. The Tiger erupted to life, the quick raocus idle of the Ford 302 reminding Ryosuke of the Mustang he had driven back home. After letting the car warm up for a brief moment, Molly pulled out, the motor singing its thunderous song.

As the blue convertible drove down the street in search of an empty parking lot Ryosuke's cell phone began to ring. He looked at the call ID and didn't recognize the number. He thought briefly about ignoring the call, but something told him not to.

"Takahashi Ryosuke?" He answered the phone.

"Hey Ryo." At the sound of that voice Ryosuke's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Sung?" He finally managed to choke out.

"The one and only." He responded, and before Ryosuke had a chance to say anything Sung was already in midsentence. "So I hear your little travelling team is making quit the name for itself here in the States."

"Yes, I suppose we are." Ryosuke said modestly.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't play the modest card. I've seen the times you guys have only lost once out of eight races. That's nothing to sneeze at."

"So what are you calling about?" Ryosuke asked.

"Well, I was wondering if your plans were going to bring you anywhere near North Carolina, because we got some really good competition down here. Got a kid who could rival Takumi for natural ability. I suggest you come down this way."

"So that's where you had to go to get away from the Yakuza."

"Yeah, well America is a big country, and there a lot of little places to hide. But seriously, it would be good competition for you team, plus you get to see your old friend."

Ryosuke could picture the crooked grin that was sure to be on Sung's face.

"I'll look into it Sung, but I need to know a little bit more than just North Carolina, and I wouldn't be able to tell you when."

"Alright, I gotta go, but I'll call you back sometime soon."

"Right bye."

"Latter Ryo."

•••

"So how are we going to deal with these guys?" Amanda asked leaning against the fender of her Nova.

"We don't have to." Brian said. "We're going to grind them into the dust just like we do with every other poser who drives Jap crap."

"I dunno Brian." Amanda said. "That kid with the old Toyota hatchback was really quick."

"Yeah, but the moron broke something. Guys at the finish line told me that that thing sounded like crap when he crossed the finish line, well more so than usual." Brian said again with conviction.

"But who says he's the fastest?" Bill asked the group, the all looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "He was clearly driving the oldest car of the bunch, and he was fast. Don't you think the newer cars, that make a better starting point would be modified as well? They were playing us, they knew they were going to win so they took it easy. They didn't want to show how good they really are I be that kid with the Toyota is their third or fourth driver. We have to plan on the rest of them being faster."

"They're still driving shitty imports. We'll beat them." Brian said, echoing his earlier statement.

"That doesn't fucking matter Brian!" Bill said, almost yelling, "Fast is fast, it doesn't matter what you're driving. A good driver can win even if his car isn't a super performance machine."

"You've lost it Bill! You lost your nerve because of that crash!" Brian retorted. "We've got skill, and good cars. They might have skill, but they're still driving crumby Japanese cars. We're going to win, and you won't even have to race."

"Don't underestimate them." Bill admonished, standing only a few inches from his younger brother. "You can take the week off and get kicked in the balls Saturday night, but the rest of us aren't."

"I dunno Bill." Andy spoke up. "It's our course, and these guys haven't been here to long, and our cars are more powerful. I really don't think we need to worry to much."

"Fine, sit out and lose. We're going to practice tonight." Bill said looking at his sister. "You'll see."

•••

"Alright, Chinese fire drill." Takumi looked at Molly with a blank stare. "Oh sorry." Molly said sheepishly. "A Chinese fire drill is what we call it when everybody gets out of the car and swaps seats."

"Oh alright." Takumi said and he opened the passenger door.

Takumi sat down in the driver's seat, took a quick look at the gauges, the pattern on top of the shift knob, and buckled his harness. He was immediately aware of the vibrations he could feel through the seat, keeping in time with the motor reminded him of how everything was different when sitting in the driver's seat. Now he wasn't just sitting in the driver's seat. Now he wasn't just sitting in the car, riding in the car, he was part of the car.

"Ready?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, sure." Takumi responded in a sleepy tone of voice that didn't really inspire confidence.

Takumi prodded the gas a couple of times, causing the tachometer needle to jump a few hundred revs each time. He pushed the clutch to the floor and was surprised by how hard he had to push.

"Kinda heavy." He said looking at the small women who worked the clutch all the time.

"Yeah, it is. Sometimes my knee bothers me because of it."

Takumi slotted the shifter into first gear applied the gas and began to engaged the clutch. All of the sudden it picked up, and because he wasn't accustomed to the weight it was fully engaged. The rear wheels squealed briefly, before Takumi slammed the clutch to the floor, the car shuddering a little bit. Takumi felt his face getting hot, embarrassed that he had made such a mistake especially in someone else's car.

"Hey don't worry, you're not used to driving something like this. People make mistakes. You just need a little time to adjust." She smiled.

Concentrating on the clutch this time Takumi tried again, riding the clutch a little bit, but he didn't light up the rear tires.

It took a little bit for him to get used to it, but in a couple of minuets he was driving like he'd owned the car for years using the engines low RPM torque. In second gear he gave the car a quick shot of gas, and was pinned back by the acceleration. Next he weaved the car back and forth, getting a feel for the suspension, how quick the steering responded.

Takumi brought the little blue convertible to a stop in the middle of the parking lot.

"Done already?" Molly asked, afraid that Takumi had found something he didn't like about the car, or that there was something wrong with it.

"No, not yet." He responded and Molly saw something different in his eyes, focus, a fierce determination.

The young ace notched the shifter back into first gear. The engine roared, the tires squealed as he launched the small car hard, charging towards the opposite and of the parking lot. He shifted, second gear. Molly clutched the top of the door and he shifted again, third gear. Molly gritted her teeth afraid that he wasn't going to be able to stop before they ran out of pavement. With a quick flick of the wheel Takumi put the car into a perfect four wheel drift, sliding around the end of the parking island. He accelerated hard, heading back in the direction they had originally come from. At the other end he did it again, before slowing to a stop.

"Woh," Molly gasped, as the car stopped, the putrid smell of burning tires stinging her nostrils. Her heart was racing as she tried to comprehend how this space shot kid had been able to drive like that in a car he'd only been driving for 15 minuets. "That was amazing." She finally said.

"Well it's a good car." Takumi responded with a smile. He felt something strange in the pit of his stomach, in his spine, a tingling he loved the car already, it was fantastic, earth shattering. "I can't wait to get this on Lake Shore." He said in a way that Molly wasn't sure if he meant it.

On the ride back to the house Takumi continued to assess the car. The engine was very flexible, the mountains of torque made it easy to keep up in traffic, and meant that in regular driving he didn't have to keep shifting all the time to keep the engine in the powerband. He liked the little blue car a lot.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_Sorry guys, it's been awhile, but things have been really busy lately. I just wanted to say thanks for waiting, and thanks to MoonRunnerDuke for letting me use his character, you'll see more in the future._

_Thanks, Margrave._


	14. Frustration

Chapter 14. Frustration.

Keisuke gazed across the small parking lot to where Takumi sat in the blue Sunbeam Tiger. He was ready for his first practice run, and waiting for the go ahead from Ryosuke to start. The younger Takahashi brother took a drag of his cigarette and scowled. How was it that Fujiwara got to drive the Tiger? He'd damaged his car ignoring Ryosuke's instructions, and _he _gets to drive the Tiger? How was that fair? How through a fuck up did Takumi get the privilege of driving that car?

No matter, it was better than the alternatives Keisuke thought, trying to get his mind off of Takumi's luck. No way would Keisuke willingly let his rival drive the FD, especially since any damage to the car would put two drivers at severe disadvantage in competition, and that was true no matter what car Takumi could have driven except for maybe Ryosuke's FC. But that was never going to happen.

_It's not a big deal anyway. _Keisuke thought. _I didn't want to drive that car to begin with. It's probably very nose heavy and handles like a pushcart. If it was really any good Molly would have raced against us in Medway. _Keisuke thought, trying to rationalize away his jealousy of the other ace. He wasn't missing anything anyways, the FD was such a good car, it was Takumi who was missing out getting stuck with an old outdated car.

The engine roared as Takumi launched the Tiger to start his first practice run. Keisuke felt a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach. He knew he was missing something special.

•••

Amanda and Bill had parked their cars behind the concession hut at Taber's. Brian and Andy may not have seen the need to practice against their new opponents, bit Bill and Amanda knew better. Project D had been trying to hustle them. Brother and sister stood right next to the building in the hope of not being seen by Project D so they could get an accurate read on their challengers. Even though the stretch in front of Taber's was only a fraction of the course they could still get some useful information. Of course they wouldn't be able to see how the cars handled for real, or the driving styles, but it would serve as a good gauge of their overall speed. Taber's sat at the end of the fastest section of the course.

The pair had already seen three of the four cars they were just waiting on the old Toyota to make its appearance. Soon they could hear the sound of an engine roaring, and they looked at each other. It was deeper, it rumbled, it wasn't the sound of a small displacement four cylinder as they had expected. They peered cautiously around the corner of the building waiting to see what was coming. Maybe it was Andy coming to join them. The sound of the engine grew louder and louder until the car crested the small hill with a roar.

They gasped simultaneously. It was Molly's Sunbeam Tiger! The little blue convertible roared past them, going at a good clip.

"Oh boy." Amanda said. "Apparently that old Corolla was really messed up."

"Could you tell who was driving?" Bill asked, knowing that he couldn't because of the speed and the lack of light.

"No I couldn't." Amanda answered, going through the possibilities in her head. "I didn't think Molly was part of that team." She finally said.

"You don't think she would have let that kid driver her car, do you?" Bill asked.

"I don't know." Amanda responded. "She seemed rather protective of the car when I first met her. Unless that kids really good. I'm not sure I see her letting anybody use her car for a race."

"Then he must be really good." Bill said, mulling things over in his head. "That means that what we saw from him the other night is really how fast he is. But how does that figure in with the others?"

"I don't know." Amanda said.

•••

That night Takumi lay awake in bed, unable to get to sleep. The fan hummed in the window and Keisuke snored quietly, but it all conspired to keep Takumi awake, and focusing on that nights practice. It had been a world apart from that afternoon in the empty High school parking lot, it was dark, of course and usually that wouldn't matter, but he was trying to adjust to the car, and the gauges weren't the best lit, or the easiest to read that Takumi had ever seen and they were predominantly in the English system. But that was just a minor distraction, he knew when to shift based on the sound of the engine, he could estimate oil pressure and engine temperature based on the position of the needle. What he was having difficulty with was driving. He knew going in that there would be some adjustments he needed to make, but he was assaulted by difficulties driving the car in practice.

It started right away, that afternoon Takumi knew he might have been going 50 percent, but that wasn't going to cut it in practice, he only had five nights to get a handle on the car, he couldn't afford to go that easy. Still he couldn't go flat out, it wasn't his car, and he wasn't familiar enough with it yet. He had started the first round of practice at 80 percent, and problems came up right away. The low end torque he had loved that afternoon caused the live rear axle to hop under hard acceleration, what he didn't know was that it could have been much worse had Molly's car not been modified with fox Mustang quad shocks.

The car had handled well, but there was another challenge. Takumi couldn't accelerate as hard out of the turns as he could with the 86. The horsepower and torque combined to make the car step out more than Takumi wanted it to, and sooner too. Numerous times he'd found himself countersteering in a turn that he would have had to work hard to get the same reaction out of the 86.

It bothered the young ace. Sure he had some difficulty when his father had made him start driving the Imprezza on deliveries, but that was totally different that had a turbocharger, and all wheel drive, and it was heavier. Molly's Tiger was more like Tsukamoto's 180SX, lighter, rear wheel drive with power, and Takumi had not problem with that car. But the Tiger had so much more power, and the wind in his face was a little distracting.

There was a lot he liked about the car, but it was challenging, and he got the feeling that sometimes it was trying to kill him, to send him into the lake to drown. But that wouldn't happen, it was a convertible. The power he liked so much was also one of the things he didn't like. It was that power that made the car oversteer, slowed him down. It was the lightyears away from the motor in the 86. Where he would have to coax the 86's motor into braking the rear tire loose through a combination of steering, weight shifting, throttle and sometimes, downshifting, all he really needed to do in the Tiger was apply more gas and _boom _oversteer.

It shook his confidence, all night he had trouble adjusting to the car, he wasn't happy with the car either. It should have been easier to adjust to, it was just a car like the 86, front engine, rear wheel drive. Somehow he just couldn't get a handle on it yet.

_ Am I going to be ready for Saturday? _Takumi thought to himself as he stared into the blackness above his head.

_Will I be ready?_

•••

The white FC idled quietly on Lake Shore Drive, the pop up headlights illuminated the area in front of the car. Ryosuke held the clutch down with his left foot, and prodded the gas with his right. The Mazda rotary engine whirred, and the blow off valve snapped. Ryosuke fastened his harness, for the first time in years Ryosuke felt the odd tickle of butterflies in his stomach, quietly excited about what he was about to do in the early Maine morning. He imagined a competitor sitting next to him in the opposite lane, an electric green Shelby Cobra. He could see the starter, his hand raised in the air. Ryosuke counted down in his head.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

GO!

The engine roared and Ryosuke popped the clutch, the imaginary Cobra took the lead, it had better acceleration. Ryosuke charged down the straightaway, shifting gears in pursuit of his imaginary competitor. He kept his speed up going uphill through the S turn, and stood on the gas going past Taber's. The car was doing well, but not as well as Ryosuke would have wanted as he still chased the fictional Cobra. He got on the brakes, and set his beloved FC into a perfect drift to turn the corner. He charged out of the corner down a short straightaway. He took the following sweeping S turn that opened into a long gradual right hand turn. The long right hand turn was followed by another long straight away. The green figment of his imagination was still ahead of him as he accelerated down the straight away, hitting fourth gear before having to slow down a little for the slight left hand turn at the end.

On the next section the trees seemed to creep closer to the road as it gradually bent back to the right, in an off camber way, causing speed to drop off a little for limited grip. At the end of the almost straight away there was a left hand turn with a good banking. Ryosuke turned in and pinned the gas feeling the G forces from the acceleration and from the turn.

The white FC exploded onto the last straight away, the imaginary Cobra still in front. Ryosuke parked the car in front of the small convenience store. He smiled to himself, although he was conflicted. He was happy that he head been able to do so well after more than a year away from active participation in racing. The same could not be said for the legendary white FC. It wasn't that Ryosuke hadn't been taking care of the car, and keeping up with the maintenance, it was that since he hadn't been racing for the past year or more the car didn't have to be in the same high state of tune that it needed to be in when he was leading the Red Suns. The suspension was softer, the turbo wasn't running the same amount of boost, the tires could be replaced. It was a lot of little things, but they all added up, the car was slower, but that was to be expected, and it wouldn't be hard to correct, especially with Matsumoto and Stevie.

•••

Takumi sat at the table, his breakfast sitting there half eaten next to his second cup of coffee. He was still too tired to do much of anything, even fix his hair. His brain didn't seem to want to function either from lack of sleep. Molly walked in from the garage and sat down across from Takumi.

"How did it go last night?" She asked.

"Alright." Takumi responded with a yawn.

"Just alright?" Molly asked, doing her best to look hurt. "Was something wrong with the car?"

"No, I just have to get used to it." Takumi said, not wanting to tell her that he was really having a lot of trouble dealing with the car.

"Ah, you'll get used to it." Molly offered, "You're good enough, it'll just take a little time, that's all."

Takumi smiled a little bit to himself at Molly's vote of confidence.

"Hey Stevie, how you doin'?" Molly heard the familiar southern drawl and quickly headed for the garage, William had finally arrived.

"What are you doin'? It looks like you've decided to start a Japanese used car dealership." William smirked at Stevie as Molly approached. She could see that sparkle in his eyes above his broad toothy grin.

"No." Stevie chuckled as he clasped Williams hand in a firm handshake. "These cars all belong to Project D, they're a race team from Japan, and they're good. Hey did you drive the Stude?"

"Stude?" Ryosuke asked, the word sounding weird.

"Oh sorry." Stevie said and launched into an answer. "Studebaker, they were an American independent automaker that went out of business in 1966. Stude is just a sort of nickname."

"Oh Studebaker." Ryosuke said, he knew that they had existed, but he didn't know much about the company, there wasn't much call for information on Studebaker in Japan.

"Come on lets go take a look." William offered, and the four of them walked to the dark blue 1963 Studebaker Lark.

"It's defiantly different." Ryosuke offered, "It look good."

"You haven't even seen the best part yet." Stevie said as William opened the hood. Ryosuke looked at the engine bat, it was a V8 of course, but it was different. There was a large polished chrome cylinder on the left side of the engine bay with a good sized zip tube running to a round orange housing, which in turn had a hard rubber hose running to a metal box that looked like a flat topped roof sitting on top of the motor. On the front of the box was embossed R3, and on the front of the orange housing was a pulley with two skinny belts running to it.

"It's supercharged." Ryosuke said.

"You got a good eye." William said.

"I didn't know Studebaker offered a factory supercharged motor."

"Well not many." William responded. "Most of the cars that got superchargers were Avantis, and only a few of them got the R3."

"R3?" Ryosuke asked.

"305 cubic inch V8. Most of Studebakers V8s were 289s, or the supercharged 289. But they knew they needed more power so they gave it more displacement and put the supercharger on to make 335 horsepower."

"Hmm." Ryosuke said as he walked around the car appraising the styling, the wheels and tires. "Four speed?" He asked.

"Originally, it had a four speed, straightdrive, but it needed another gear for the highway." William answered.

"Straightdrive?" Ryosuke asked, wondering if Studebaker had cornered the market long ago on some piece of forgotten automotive technology.

"He means manual." Stevie answered, "And he doesn't know what he's talking about, when you add that extra gear it messes things up, when you have to spring load it, you can't shift as quick. Garbage. Still, tell him about the liquorcycle."

Ryosuke saw a glint in William's eye, and a big lopsided grin crept across his face. "A liquorcycle is one of those little motorcycle things that people drive when they lose their liscence for drunk driving,"

"A moped?"

"Yeah, you don't need a license to drive one of those things in North Carolina." William chuckled to himself. "So what are you boys doing here? We're a long way from Japan."

"Racing." Ryosuke responded. "I hope that my brother and Takumi can become professional drivers. I'm trying to prepare them for the first year of professional racing where we'll be on the road at tracks far from home. It's to help them adjust and be prepared so they can succeed."

"Well good luck, maybe you boys can make your way down to North Carolina, we got a lot of talent down there."

•••

"So you guys still aren't worried about these Project D guys?" Bill asked his brothers, surprised that neither of them were worried about the appearance of the Sunbeam Tiger.

"It's nothing to worry about." Brian answered. "One car out of four that might actually give us some competition. We'll still win three to four if the kid in the Tiger manages to beat Amanda."

Amanda's face went red, angry that her brother thought that she was the one who was going to lose. _I'll show him. _She thought and clenched her fist.

"Listen, a Tiger is nothing to sneeze at." Bill said. "It's a Shelby, you know those things are like Yenkos, or Baldwin Motion stuff."

"Yeah, except not as good." Brian scoffed. "It's only got a 289, and only 271 horsepower."

"You don't know that." Amanda said.

"Oh come on, nobody has the ball to modify a Shelby car." He scoffed again. "Besides, it probably only has a 260, they didn't get the 289 until late in the run, and then Chrysler killed it because they didn't like paying Ford for motors. I think our chances are pretty good."

"Alright, whatever." Bill said. "Let's think about Saturday. Whose going to drive first?"

"I will." Brian said, "Start off with an ass whopping and set the tone."

"Alright." Bill said, hoping a little that Brian would be the one getting the ass kicking to teach him a lesson, or at least a little humility.

"I'll go next." Andy said. "That way if you win too Bill Amanda won't even have to race."

"Don't get cocky." Amanda warned, "That's the biggest mistake you can make."

"So I suppose that means I go third." Bill said.

"Yeah, and then Amanda, if we need her to race at all." Brian answered.

"Alright. I'm going to bed." Amanda said, trying her hardest to not betray her anger. She closed her door and flipped down on the bed, angry that after all hard work, and not losing a race for more than a year Brian still didn't take her seriously. It was like just because she was a girl that Brian didn't take her seriously, like she couldn't be as good no matter how hard she tried. She'd been working so hard for so long to prove to her brothers and all the other jerks who thought girls couldn't drive, that they couldn't race, that they weren't good enough just because they were girls. She'd worked at least as hard as her brothers, if not harder, and yet they still didn't give her credit. There was only so much she could do. She could only work so hard, win so many races. If they still didn't want to believe, then that was there issue. Still. . . she wanted to be recognized for her skill, her ability, and her hard practice, just to get a compliment once because she had won, not to have every victory explained away as having faced the weakest member of the opposing team. They would see in the end, she knew that she was on top of things, that she was just as good, if not better than almost anybody else in the area. They would see.

•••

Rysouke watched at Takumi prepared to make his fifth run of the night. He was driving along, because the Tiger didn't have any of the computer controls that were found in the rest of Project D's cars making it useless for Matsumoto to ride along. The kid was really hitting it hard, harder than Ryosuke had expected, he wasn't sure why though, perhaps it was difficulties he was having with the car, or getting used to it. Maybe it was just that he was taking things back a couple of notches because it was somebody else's car. He was still turning in good times, not as fast as the bonsai runs he had done in the 86, but still good. He was close to the times Keisuke had laid down, and he was driving his own car that he'd been racing for years, and Takumi was still posting good times in a car he had only started driving a couple of days ago.

The motor roared and tires squealed as Takumi launched the small blue convertible into the night. Ryosuke concentrated on the sound as long as he could. Sure he could see the car for awhile as Takumi made his way down the main straight, but it was dark, and the lights could be deceiving, the sound was much more telling and he could hear the roar of the motor and the squeal of the tires much longer than he could see the car. He counted the shifts, a drop in octave for an upshift, a quick bark followed by a higher octave for a downshift, which was usually followed by the squeal of radial tires as Takumi threw the car into a turn. Eventually though even on a course as short as Lake Shore Drive the sounds failed to reach his ears.

It was tough for him to tell though. He'd been around cars for a long time, but he had no frame of reference for a Sunbeam Tiger, he couldn't tell if the tires were squealing because of the road or because Takumi wasn't used to the car, and how long would it take for the kid to get used to it.

But that was the big question, wasn't it? Would Takumi be ready for Saturday night? If Takumi lost again, so close together it would be a major blow to his confidence, how would he respond? Would it be the same as after he lost to Mike? It would devastate him and it might take to long for Takumi to get back under control, besides the 86 might not be able to take the kind of punishment that Takumi would dish out. They would just have to wait and see. No, he would have to help Takumi as best he could; he still had four nights to go.

"I'll be going with Takumi on his next practice run." Ryosuke said to Takumi.

Fumihiro looked back at him. "Are you sure about that boss?"

"Yes, I can't get a handle on the situation because we have no computer readouts to examine, so I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way." Ryosuke responded, not wanting to give the whole explanation. He didn't want to admit to the whole team that he thought Takumi was having problems adjusting.

Nakazato's GT-R sat waiting for Takumi to return. Ryosuke smoked a cigarette as he waited, he wasn't sure whether he should hate or like Mike, it was a double edged sword. He had helped Project D, and continued to help them, yet he had also deceived them and he had shattered Takumi's confidence resulting in the damage of the 86. Then again they were staying in his uncles house, using his tools and would be down a driver or Takumi would be doubling up with somebody else. He exhaled smoke from his nose. _Damnit, _he thought, there was no way to tell.

It seemed like an eternity until the Sunbeam Tiger and Takumi were lined up for their final run of the night. Ryosuke walked over to the car, Takumi sat in the driver's seat, he wasn't his usual spacey self, not even his focused driving self. He was tenser than usual, stressed, confused, like he was being beaten down. The car was beating him. Ryosuke popped open the passenger door and slid into the seat.

"What's going on Ryosuke?" Takumi asked wearily.

"Nothing I'd just like to ride along." He answered as he buckled his harness.

"Alright." Takumi said, not quite sure why Ryosuke would want to ride along with him. Takumi twisted the ignition key and slotted the shifter into first gear. He waited briefly before Matsumoto gave him a nod. He hit the gas and modulated the clutch perfectly to limit wheelspin and get the most amount of power to the ground at the same time, they screamed down the straight away. . .

Ryosuke did his best to pay attention to the different aspects of Takumi's driving. How he accelerated, how he broke, how he turned in, when he did all of these things. As they approached the turn following Taber's he was prepared enough to tell what was going on. Takumi hit the brakes hard, and time his turn in perfectly, the suspension holding well, but when Takumi got back on the gas, there was the problem. The young ace applied the gas and the wheels began to squeal and step out of line. It took only a little bit of countersteer to get the car going straight again, but the amount of time it took could be the difference in a race.

Ryosuke paid close attention to how Takumi accelerated out of turns for the rest of the run, each time having some degree of difficulty with the rear wheels being over powered by the motors torque. The problem was Takumi was trying to drive the Tiger the same way he would drive the 86 or his father's Imprezza, but where the 86's motor was good it just didn't generate the same amount of torque as a 5.0 litre engine, and the Imprezza's turbocharged four cylinder was aided by all wheel drive. The Tiger was just worlds away from anything Takumi was used to driving.

All he had to do now was develop a plan, he didn't have the luxury of allowing the kid to figure it out on his own.


	15. Will Power

Chapter 15 Will Power.

Ryosuke watched as Takumi prepared to make his fifth run of the night. He was driving alone, because the Tiger didn't have any of the computer controls that were found on the bulk of Project D's car making it useless for Matsumoto to ride along. The kid was really hitting it hard, harder than Ryosuke had expected him too, and the leader of Project D wasn't sure why though. Perhaps it was difficulties he was having with the car, or getting used to it. Maybe it was just that he was taking things back a couple of notches because it was somebody else's car. He was still turning in good times, not as fast as the bonsai runs he had done in the 86, but still good, close to Keisuke's own and he was driving his own car that he'd been driving for years, and Takumi was posting good time in a car he'd only started driving a couple of days ago.

The motor roared and tires squealed as Takumi launched the small blue convertible into the night. Ryosuke concentrated on the sound as long as he could. Sure he could see the car for awhile as Takumi made his way down the main straight, but it was dark, and the lights could be misleading. The sound of the motor and the tires were much more telling, and he could hear it longer as well. He counted the shifts, a drop in octave for an upshift, a quick bark and a higher octave for a downshift, which was usually followed by the squealing of tires as Takumi threw the car into a turn. Eventually though, even on a course as short as Lake Shore Drive the sounds failed to reach his ears.

It was tough for him to tell though. He'd been around cars for a long time, but he had no frame of reference for a Sunbeam Tiger, he couldn't tell if the tires were making noise because of the road, because of the car's suspension, or because of the way that Takumi was driving the car, having difficulty handling the machine and weather he would be ready or not.

But that was the real question wasn't it? Would Takumi be ready for Saturday night? If Takumi lost again, so close together it would be a major blow to his confidence, how would he respond? Would it be the same as after he lost to Mike? It would devastate him and it might take to long for Takumi to get back under control, besides the 86 might not be able to take that kind of punishment that Takumi would dish out. They would just have to wait and see.

No he would have to help Takumi as best he could, he still had four nights to go.

"I'll be going with Takumi on his next run." Ryosuke said to Fumihiro.

Fumihiro looked back at him. "Are you sure about that boss?"

"Yes, I can't get a handle on the situation because we have no computer data to examine so I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way." Ryosuke responded, not wanting to give the whole explanation. He didn't want to admit to the whole team that he thought Takumi was having problems adjusting.

Nakazato's GT-R sat waiting for Takumi to return. Ryosuke smoked a cigarette as he waited, he wasn't sure weather he should hate or like Mike, it was a double edged sword. He had helped Project D a lot, and continued to help them, yet he had also deceived them and had shattered Takumi's confidence resulting in the damage to the 86. Then again they were staying in his uncle's house, using his tools and if it weren't for Molly, Takumi would be doubling up in somebody else's car. _Damnit, _he thought, there was no way to tell.

It seemed like an eternity until the Sunbeam Tiger and Takumi were lined up for their final run of the night. Ryosuke walked over to the car, Takumi sat in the driver's seat, he wasn't his usual spacey self, not even his usual focused driving self. He was more tense than usual, stressed, confused, like he was being beaten down. The car was beating him. Ryosuke popped open the passenger door and slid into the seat.

"What's going on Ryosuke?" Takumi asked wearily.

"Nothing. I'd just like to ride along." He answered as he buckled the harness, hoping that already having that done would discourage the kid from telling him not to.

"Alright." Takumi said, not quiet sure why Ryosuke would want to ride along with him. Takumi twisted the ignition key and slotted the shifter into first. He waited briefly before Matsumoto gave him a nod. He hit the gas and modulated the clutch perfectly to limit wheel spin and get the most amount of power to the ground at the same time, they screamed down the straight away. . .

Ryosuke did his best to pay attention to the different aspects of Takumi's driving. How he accelerated, how he broke, how he turned, when he did all these things. As they approached the turn following Taber's he was prepared enough to tell what was going on. Takumi hit the brakes hard, and timed his turn in perfectly, the suspension holding well, but when Takumi got back on the gas there was the problem. The young ace applied the gas and the wheels began to squeal, and step out of line, it took only a little bit of countersteer to get the car going straight again, but the amount of time it took could be the difference in a race, especially if it happened on other turns.

Ryosuke paid close attention to how Takumi accelerated out of the turns for the rest of the run. Each time having some degree of difficulty with the rear wheels being over powered by the motor's torque. The problem was Takumi was trying to drive the Tiger the way he would drive the 86 or his father's Imprezza. But where the 86's motor was good it just couldn't generate the same amount of torque as a 5.0 litre engine, and the Imprezza's turbocharged 4 cylinder was aided by all wheel drive. The Tiger was just worlds away from anything Takumi was used to driving. All he had to do now was develop a plan. He didn't have the luxury of allowing the kid to figure it out on his own.

The next morning Takumi was the last person down t breakfast, he hadn't been sleeping well for the past few nights. Molly continued to play the Project D den mother and less than half a minute after Takumi sat down she had placed a cup of coffee in front of him.

"Still having a little trouble with my car?" Moll asked.

"No, not really." Takumi lied. "I'm still adjusting but I'm getting the hang of it."

"Uh, huh." She responded skeptically, knowing that Takumi probably wouldn't admit it. "It takes a little while to learn." She offered. "You'll get the hang of it."

Ryosuke walked in from the garage and sat down across the table from Takumi.

"Good morning." He said.

"Morning." Takumi responded in his sort of spacey way.

"You did well in practice last night." Ryosuke said.

"Oh."

"Yes, you're times look good and I'm sure that they'll only get better."

"Thanks." Takumi responded.

"However," Ryosuke said, switching to Japanese so that he could save Takumi the embarrassment of Molly hearing. "You have to work on your acceleration technique."

"I know." Takumi responded in Japanese as well.

"You're starting to accelerate at the same percentage and at the same time as you would in the 86. You can't do that in a car as powerful as the Tiger. You either have to wait a little longer to accelerate, or be more careful on the throttle. I know with practice you can do this." Ryosuke said, knowing that if he took to long Molly would get suspicious and assume something.

"Thank you." Takumi said, knowing that what Ryosuke had said was true, he just had to work on things.

"Good." Ryosuke said. He hadn't envisioned anything like this happening when he had started planning Project D's American expedition, but this was going a long way to accomplishing one of the goals. Getting Takumi and Keisuke to adapt to changes and adversity far away from home, away from their home courses of Akina and Akagi. Away from the safety of places where they could try new techniques, and experiment, and not have to worry about being surprised by a turn, or a bump in the road. It would all be for not if Takumi suffered another loss.

It was one of the key steps on their road to becoming professional drivers, because during a full fledged race season they'd be spending months away from home, moving from track to track each week without much time off. If they adjusted now they would have much more success in their first seasons, he wanted to make sure they made it, it would be such a waste of talent if both of them didn't make it to the pros.

"You might want to consider watching the video of the course and focus on you're acceleration. Like I said, with a little more practice you'll get the hang of the car."

"Alright I'll take a look at it after breakfast." Takumi answered.

After breakfast and polishing off a second cup of coffee he made his way to the living room to watch the video. Of course it wasn't at full speed, and it was shot during the day, and it was shot from Kenta's car, but it might help.

He popped the tape into the VCR and sat back on the couch to watch. He paid attention marking every braking point, every acceleration point as the video played. He'd run Lake Shore Drive so many times over the last couple of weeks that he was beginning to get to know it really well. Takumi rewound the tape but before starting over he sat on the floor using the front of the couch as a back rest. He got himself in the closest position to the driving position of the Tiger. He put his hand and his feet up in a driving position, notched an imaginary shifter into first gear. Then he pressed play.

As the video played he went through every motion, every shift every turn of the wheel. He paid attention to his imaginary throttle input. Takumi wasn't sure it was going to help, but if nothing else it could help him with his timing. Rewind, play again. Takumi went through the same simulation four more times. Of course it wasn't the exact same thing as driving the real car, but it could help.

Takumi turned off the TV and VCR and headed back out towards the barn. Just about everybody was in the barn, including William and Molly. Takumi walked over as they were talking about competitors cars, or something, he wasn't really that interested in what they were talking about.

"Molly, is the Tiger open?" Takumi asked.

"No, but here are the keys." Molly said tossing the pair of keys with a heart shaped key ring, that had _Mike _embossed in the heart.

Takumi dropped himself into the driver's seat after unlocking the car. Again he went through the Lake Shore Course mentally, every turn, every shift every input of the gas or brake pedal. He went through it all, determined that the car was not going to beat him, sure that it was going to turn into a weapon, he was going to dismantle whoever the Bow Tie Boys lined up against him. Takumi's eyes narrowed, he clutched the steering wheel a little tighter.

He was going to win. He was determined. It was frustrating that he had lost, that the 86 was broken, but all he could do was focus on reining in the Tiger, and winning the next race.

•••

Ryosuke's cellphone rang, and he wasn't sure who would be calling as he dug it out of his pocket. The caller ID didn't give it away either.

"Takahashi Ryosuke?" He answered the phone.

"Hey Ryo. How's things up north?" It was Sung.

"Challenging." Ryosuke responded, "glad to hear from his old friend again."

"Oh, really, how so?" Sung inquired slyly.

"Takumi's been having difficulties adjusting to the car he's been driving."

"Really, is your brother's FD that tough to handle, I mean I thought that kid had skill."

"Oh, no, he's not sharing a car with Keisuke. He's been driving a Sunbeam Tiger."

"A what!?" Sung asked surprise filling his voice. "Who in their right mind would lend you bunch of maniacs a Sunbeam Tiger?"

"Have you looked at our website lately?" Ryosuke asked.

"No, why?"

"The same team we raced in Massachusetts knows some people up here and one of their members has been on vacation. When Takumi's car damaged a couple of valve springs during his last race Molly was kind enough to volunteer her car for Takumi. He's been having difficulty adjusting to the power and low end torque."

"Do you think he'll be ready for the next race?" Sung asked. "Or is this a contingency plan in case you can't get the 86 fixed in time?"

"The 86 won't be ready. We have to wait on the parts to come from Japan. He'll be driving the Tiger this weekend."

Sung was quiet for a moment, thinking about what that could possibly mean moving forward. "Huh, but you'll have the 86 fixed before you leave Maine, right?" He finally asked.

"Yes, the parts should be here next Monday."

"Good, any thoughts on where you're headed afterwards?" Sung asked, his voice suddenly sly again.

"I'm not sure. As of right now I don't have any leads as to where more good competition might be. I'd like to get out of New England though."

"Well here's you lead old buddy. Denton North Carolina. There's a lot of talent down in this area, and from Denton it's only a few hours to Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway in case you guys miss mountain driving."

"Hmm." Ryosuke said thoughtfully. "What type of competition?"

"There's a kid down here who just showed up, he's driving a Shelby GT 350 that's very well prepared, I'd say he's got skills to rival Takumi's or your brother's. He's number one on the Shammel Highway. Other than that there's a good Corvette, a Fiat X1/9 with an Evo III engine. There's also a lot of other teams around here that have been showing up because of the stir this kid is creating. I take it you'll be coming down here at some point?"

"I'll think about it." Ryosuke answered, his voice not betraying any hint of if Project D really would or not. "Denton North Carolina you say?"

"Yeah, it's a little town, might be tough to find."

"How do I contact you?"

"You don't, I'll find you. You think you guys showing up down here won't create a stir. Everybody who races down here knows of every other racer in the county."

"Alright then."

"I look forward to seeing you soon Ryo."

Ryosuke hung up the phone and thought about it for a second, a long second. He did his best to remember back to the geography classes he had taken coming up with at least a general idea of where North Carolina was in relation to Maine. It was a long way he knew that, but not something Project D couldn't cover in a couple of days. Chances were that most other places they would race in New England would be similar to either Populatic in Medway, or Lake Shore Drive. It would be good to get away, to get to a different place, different courses, different opponents. He'd come here with a plan, a vague plan, which was very unlike him, but he needed to get away. He'd said he was going to study medicine and take Keisuke along as a sort of growing up experience, but sooner or latter his father was going to notice the charges for certain things, tires, lots of tires, gallons of gasoline a set of TRD valve springs. To the best of his knowledge his father hadn't been a racer, or really into cars, but he was smart enough to realized the he wouldn't be buying parts for his _Mazda _RX-7 from a _Toyota _dealer. He would figure it out, and kill the whole thing.

That was why he didn't have a concrete plan beyond help Takumi and Keisuke make it to the pros. If he'd made a plan, mapped out places to get to, teams to race, if he could find any it would only be a disappointment when they were finally called home, it would be a poor way to end his racing career. But now. . .now it was different, somehow. It was different because he was different, he had changed his mind, he wasn't sure he wanted to become a doctor any longer. It would dishonor his family, he knew probably result in them disowning him. He knew he was going to try and race again, but there had to be a practical reason so he could make the rest of Project D believe, and he had to figure out what this excursion meant to him.

•••

Keisuke gazed across the garage at his older brother as he lit a cigarette and took a long drag. Something was going on with his brother.

"Hey, Matsumoto?" Keisuke whispered as he leaned over the bumper of his car. "Do you think there's something wrong with Aniki? He seems very distracted lately."

"I don't know." Matsumoto said, "I've been working on the cars so long that I haven't had to much time to talk to him."

"Really, what about at night? There's something going on with Aniki, and I don't know what, but I know it has something to do with the races."

"I don't know Keisuke." Matsumoto responded. "You're brothers not the type of person to be disturbed easily, and races wouldn't do it to him, something else has to be bothering him, if anything's really bothering him in the first place."

"Any idea on what could be bothering him then, because I haven't seen him like this in a long time, and it worries me a little bit. What if we need to fall back on him Saturday night, and his minds not in it?" He looked around quickly to make sure that nobody else on the team could hear him.

"Keisuke, I don't know. He's been keeping to himself lately, and I was never really privy to information that he wouldn't tell you. He always would talk to me during, and before races, but it would always sound like a lecture. We've been friends for a long time, but you know how you're brother gets, he keeps a lot of stuff to himself." Matsumoto shrugged.

"Yeah, I know." Keisuke sighed, and he exhaled smoke out his nose. "I know." _That's the Problem._

•••

Mike fastened the last strap that held his Cobra down to the trailer, and then double checked it again, with a car that had taken him so long to build there was not point in taking chances. He took good walk back from the truck and trailer before lighting a cigarette, the drums of high octane gasoline that he had filled about a half hour ago sat on the back of the truck. The cars bright green metallic paint glinted in the combination of moonlight, and garage lights. It was going to be fun this weekend.

He walked back into the house, shut off the lights, and grabbed the dog and her leash. "Come on Misty, it's time to go." Mike said, looking at the Siberian Husky that he and Molly had raised since a she was puppy. They walked out through the garage, closing the door behind him, and then out towards the truck, it was something different, something that many people in America probably had forgotten that they ever existed, and that was part of the reason Mike liked the truck and kept it around, that and the fact that he could swap in Ford truck running gear. Mike and the dog settled in as the motor warmed up, sitting between them on the engine housing was a boom box that was plugged into the lighter socket because the truck didn't come with a stereo in the first place.

"Ready to go baby?" Mike asked the dog as he scratched her behind the ear, she looked back at him, and gave a quick bark. "Alright then, her we go." Mike put the shifter in first and they were on their way to Maine.


	16. Super Nova

Chapter 16 Super Nova

It was just after ten o'clock when Mike pulled up to Stevie's house. The garage lights were still on as Project D members worked on the teams cars giving them the tune they needed to take full advantage of the 102 octane gas Mike had brought as well as last minuet adjustments so that would be in top form for the Saturday night races. Mike walked past the cars waiting to be tuned and into the garage. Ryosuke stood towards the back, arms folded across his chest as he watched Matsumoto work. From across the garage Molly spotted Mike, and quickly wove her way between the car and the shop equipment before she was in range to jump into her boyfriends arms.

"I missed you." She said after kissing him on the cheek.

"I know." Mike responded, "me too. So how are things going here?"

"Mostly good." Molly said, "But Takumi was having trouble adjusting to the Tiger."

"Yeah, I thought that would happen." Mike answered. "The kids got skills, but a week isn't enough time for anyone to get used to a car, especially one so radically different from what he's used to."

"Hello Mike." Ryosuke said as he walked up. "I apologize for interrupting, but you brought the gas, and you're Cobra as well?"

"Of course." Mike responded. "Why don't we grab a couple of people and start gassing up the cars."

"Alright." Ryosuke went off to grab a couple of Project D members to help.

After unloading the drums of fuel Mike and Ryosuke walked back outside for a cigarette.

"Things been going alright up here for you guys?" Mike asked after lighting his cigarette.

"They've been good, the team is in good shape, but Takumi is having a little difficulty adapting to the Tiger."

"Yeah, Molly mentioned that. He'll get it though, he's got to much talent to not get the hang of that car."

"Hmm." Ryosuke confirmed. "I'm just afraid of what will happen if he loses again." Ryosuke said, not sure why he was telling Mike this. He was just having so much difficulty and it bothered him so much. He had to talk to someone about, but it couldn't be his brother, he was to close to the whole situation, for that matter even Molly was too.

"How so?" Mike asked, not sure he would actually get a real answer, or even any answer at all.

"After he lost to you, he responded poorly." Ryosuke answered

"What, like he couldn't drive anymore?" Mike asked quizzically.

Ryosuke didn't respond right away, not sure he wanted to answer, but . . . "No, he could still drive, he just went to the extreme. He went 100 plus percent the whole time, practice runs, the last race, he abused the car."

"Well at least he's motivated." Mike answered taking a drag of his cigarette. "I've seen other drivers cave after something like that."

"Of course." Ryosuke answered, he'd considered that possibility as well, but Ryosuke knew that Takumi wasn't that kind of person, at least not when he was behind the wheel.

"What do you think then, what's going to happen tomorrow night?"

"I don't know," Ryosuke responded, looking around imperceptibly to make sure that no one from the team was within earshot. "I don't think it will be much of an issue. Being that he's not driving the 86, driving someone else's car he might hold back for fear of damaging it. But on the other hand. . ." Ryosuke trailed off, leaving Mike to fill in the obvious blank.

"Of course." Mike answered. "You listen to Quadrophenia a few time?"

"Yes, its starting to grow on me." Ryosuke admitted.

"It's really speaking to you huh?" Mike smiled

"Yes." He responded.

"So what are your plans then?"

"For tomorrow? Kenta, Nakazato, Keisuke, Takumi."

"Ahhah, that's cool, but not what I was getting at." Mike said, noticing that Takumi would go last, probably so he might not have to race.

"I don't know yet." Ryosuke admitted.

"Well you'll figure it out. But Ii gotta go setup the tent so I can sleep tonight."

The mechanics worked into the night until each of the Project D cars were ready for the race the following night, finally finishing up just after midnight.

The next morning Takumi was up earlier then usual, his stomach fluttering with nervousness. Tonight was the test, tonight was when he could prove that he was one of the best racers on the team and to prove to the Bow Tie Boys that he was just as good if not better then any of them. He was worried a little though, it wasn't the course or the competition, really, it was the car. He liked a lot about if, in fact he loved the power it provided, and for the most part he loved the way the car handled, but it was still challenging, the power caused the rear end to step out.

He was excited as well, there were so many reasons he loved racing, and now he got to drive a completely new car in a race. Yes he'd driven it in practice repeatedly, but practice could never compare to actual race situations.

It was going to be fun.

He was going to win.

•••

The excitement continued to build all day as the Project D drivers prepared, the last extra bit before the race. They were confident, they were all at least very good racer, if not top flight. They'd been practicing on the course for more then two weeks, more time then they had ever had when facing opponents back home in Japan. The course wasn't particularly difficult and they were possibly the best prepared they had ever been.

At four in the afternoon the eight vehicle entourage headed for Roy's and the cruise night. As they approached the small drive in they all became acutely aware that there were many more cars then the previous couple of times, apparently word had gotten out about what was going to happen that night on Lake Shore Drive. Heads turned their way as the mix of Japanese and American cars approached, everybody wanted to take a look at the new fodder for the Bow Tie Boys, to give themselves a mental picture to be committed to memory so they could tell and retell how they were there to watch a bunch of guys driving Japanese cars get dismantled by the local heroes and American muscle. There were of course those who were there to watch the upstart Japanese drivers and cars defeat the arrogant muscle car drivers. It had all the makings of an epic battle.

The lost was almost full, but the Project D drivers found that they had five spots reserved next to the cars of the Bow Tie Boys. Almost before they were out of the cars they were surrounded by groups of people wanting to get a closer look to appraise the vehicles and there chances of winning from a purely mechanical standpoint. Almost immediately the Bow Tie Boys materialized out of the crowd, Brian of course was the first to speak.

"Nice of you guys to finally show up, we were beginning to think that you were afraid and weren't going to show." He said.

"Afraid of you guys." Keisuke scoffed. "What's there to be afraid of, we've never seen you race."

"Hey we're the best on Lake Shore, show us some respect punk." Brian said, a fire in his eyes.

"Respect is earned, not given." Keisuke responded coolly.

"You tell him Keisuke sempai!" Kenta piped in from somewhere behind.

"What, you brought your own little cheering section? Ga-"

"Enough Brian." Bill said with a heavy voice. "If you want them to respect us you have to respect them." He stared down his younger brother, holding his gaze long enough for the point to get across.

"So how are we going to do this?" Fumihiro spoke up, taking back his role as unofficial spokesman for Project D.

"Eleven, on Lake Shore, head to head races, on way. Amanda will go first followed by Andy, Brian and myself." Bill said.

""Alright, Kenta will be our first driver, then Nakazato, Keisuke, and Takumi."

With that said the two groups eyed each other both leaving one question unanswered, who would race in the even of a tie? Both sides were certain of complete victory. The possibility was there though, each team had four drivers, anything could happen to lead to a tie.

"Eleven the." Fumihiro said, breaking the silence.

"Eleven." Bill confirmed. Ryosuke watched as the Bow Tie Boys turned and walked away. They were cocky, especially the first one who spoke, but he was the one Ryosuke remembered lost the race against the 1962 Galaxie not a good showing. Silently though he thanked him for riling up Project D, as much as Ryosuke disliked the thought of emotional involvement with race it was still a factor and coming in there and acting like that could only serve to motivate his drivers. As long as they kept their emotions under control, they would be fuel for the fire. Sometime Ryosuke loved stupid people he smiled to himself, imperceptible to anyone else. There was something else there as well, they didn't seem to function as a team should, Brian spoke first, despite the fact that he was clearly not the leader. Ryosuke could tell that he wanted to be, but he wasn't yet, and the way his brother had shut him down, in that almost nasty, but border on the edge of civility tone of voice that left no room for discussion, something that he should only have to do if the team was getting away from him.

For the rest of the night the Project D people walked around looking at the cars that had shown up for the cruise night. Eventually they had some food, and as the sun began to set, and the moon began to rise, and the stars appeared in the dark night sky. As eleven o'clock approached the sound of motors began to become more prevalent as spectators headed for spots they'd picked out along Lake Shore Drive. Soon there was only a handful of cars left besides those of the two teams. It would have been strange to watch, but it seemed that both groups decided to leave at the same time.

There was already a crowd at the starting line when Kenta lined up his S14 with Amanda's Silver 1970 Nova SS. There were constant murmurs from the crowd with the occasional cheers for the Bow Tie Boys driver, and jeers directed at Kenta. Ryosuke eyed the two cars, contemplating the match up. Despite being 30 years apart, there origins were similar. Both the S14 and the Nova SS were entry level sport type coupes, the main difference being how they each approached performance. The Nova SS like many American cars relied on a big V8 and live rear axle rear suspension. Kenta's S14 on the other hand had a small turbocharged four cylinder and independent rear suspension.

Kenta had developed into a good driver, Ryosuke knew, and the level of tuning on his car had improved as well. Still, Ryosuke worried, he was still at a horsepower disadvantage, and that could make all the difference on this course. It played to the advantage of the local racers, the long straightaways, and relatively gradual turns allowed them to us that power more. It was a position unique to Kenta, all the other Project D drivers would be able to go toe to toe power wise, and if the numbers showed an advantage to the Bow Tie Boys the other drivers could make up the difference in handling and skill. But Kenta he still had a long way to go to be at that level.

The starter moved closer to the road, raised his hand in the air. "Ready. . .Set. . .Go!" He shouted as he dropped his hand. Engines roared and tires squealed as the two cars took off into the night. For the first hundred feet or so the cars stayed relatively even, but quickly Amanda took the lead, the extra grunt provided by the Chevy V8 gave her the edge. Kenta fell in line behind her looking to at least get some sort of advantage by allowing Amanda to cut through the air and follow in her wake, he would have time to make a move latter. He banged home the shift into third gear, the turbo lagged a little, but quickly spooled up again as the two cars charged forward up through the S turn.

By the time the two cars were passing Taber's Amanda had opened up a lead a little more. Kenta knew his chance was coming they were getting closer to the section where the S14s handling would come into play.

"I'm going to get you. I know it." Kenta gritted his teeth, gripped the wheel a little tighter and gave it some more gas. He threw his bright orange Nissan into the tight turn, feeling the lateral G forces push him into the side of his seat as he prodded the accelerator. The tail lights of the Silver Nova seemed a little closer. _Huh big American cars can't take a turn._

From the hours spent practicing and watching the video Kenta knew they were coming up to a brief fast section, with a couple of sweeping turns before another tight one. If he got close enough he might be able to make a move at the tighter turn.

Amanda glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed the headlights of Kenta's S14 were bigger then they had been a few moments ago. She smiled to herself. _I know what you're going to do. The same thing every kid with a foreign car who thinks American cars can't handle does. _

_I'm going to get you. _ Kenta thought as he pushed the gas down harder, edging ever closer to the Silver Nova.

Both cars hit the brakes at the same time. Kenta was just a fraction of a second latter, allowing him to sneak his nose just inside the rear bumper. Amanda checked her mirror, knowing that Kenta would try and take the inside if only to get his nose inside her rear fender, which he had done, like a lot of driver before him and she knew exactly what to do. She pushed the gas down harder, the rear tires began to slip as she coaxed the Silver Nova into a powerslide. Her timing was perfect she held the slide just long enough to close off the inside line, blocking Kenta from passing on the inside.

"Damn it!" Kenta yelled as soon as he realized what had happened. He tapped the brakes quickly as a reflex. He pounded the gas again quickly trying not to lose to much ground before they made it to the sweepers.

Amanda hit the gas hard as soon as she was on the straightaway. She knew she had her opponent his best opportunity where the two cars were at odds, where the better handling S14 had the advantage. No they were coming into another section of the course where Amanda and her Nova would have the advantage, the sweeping turns would allow Amanda to fully utilize the 350 cubic inch motor, and all the torque it provided to its fullest.

The gap between the two cars continued to grow, little by little as the two competitors entered the faster part of the course, sweeping turns and eventually the long banked left hander that brought them within sight of the finish line. A few seconds latter it was over, as the silver Nova crossed the finish line, notching the first win for the Bow Tie Boys that night.

Ryosuke listened to the two way radio report the news that the Nova had won immediately a little way down the parking lot, and sporadically along the course there were cheers. Now the pressure was on for the rest of Project D, even if they didn't realize it. In a few minuets Nakazato would be facing off against a powerful homebuilt midship that would come close to matching his GT-R in power and most likely held an advantage in weight, not to mention having the benefit of being the local team. Keisuke would then have to face the arrogant punk who had already lost to the Galaxie. Keisuke would have that race wrapped up very quickly.

But there was Takumi, their last line of resistance, who now would have to win, of course assuming both Nakazato and Keisuke did their job. What it would come down to, most likely was a driver he was unsure of in a car he'd been driving for a week.

Ryosuke lit a cigarette, and began to mentally prepare himself to race.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_Hi Everyone,_

_Sorry it's taken so long for this update to come, but you know finishing school, and then my computer getting a virus got in the way. I hope everybody enjoys._

_Thanks Margrave._


	17. Skyline on Lake Shore

Chapter 17. Skyline on Lake Shore.

Amanda brought her car to a stop in the parking area, lots of people were cheering for her, and waving. She noticed Andy's Car was already gone as she pulled in next to Bill's Corvette. It was impossible to keep from smiling she had done what Brian didn't think she could do. Bill gave a thump on the roof as he walked around the car to the driver's side.

"Good job." Bill said, and smiled at his sister. "It looks like these guys may not be that big of a deal after all. You took care of that kid pretty easily."

"It really wasn't that easy." She replied. "He had some skill." She said and climbed out of her car. Across the lot she could see Andy's yellow Corvair lining up against a car that reminded her lot of 1960s muscle cars.

Ryosuke walked up to the driver's side of Nakazato's GT-R. It was clear that Nakazato was focused and intent on winning, but sometimes that was what made it difficult for him to maintain his composure behind the wheel. This lack of composure and self control was what led Nakazato to act rash, and over aggressive. Like with many other drivers there was always a hurdle, something that was more difficult for someone to get through, for some it was tire conservation, for some it was car conservation, for Nakazato it was controlling his anger, keeping his composure. He had the technical skill, not as much as Keisuke or Takumi, but he had enough skill to be a solid driver if he could only control his temper.

"Nakazato."

"Yes boss?" He responded from the driver's seat.

"Good luck tonight. I only have one instruction for you. Don't pass until after the second checkpoint." Ryosuke said in that same smooth voice he always had.

"The second checkpoint?" Nakazato asked quizzically.

"Yes, the second checkpoint." Ryosuke confirmed.

"Alright." Nakazato responded, not sure why Ryosuke would ask him to do something like that. It didn't make really make sense after these races they would be leaving this area, if not the state, so it wouldn't do Project D any good to hide their capabilities from perspective opponents. It also seemed to run a bit counter to what Project D mission of establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the world. Either way he would have to deal with it. The starter moved out from the crowd, cutting short any further thoughts. The starters hand went up. . .

"Ready." The starter called. "Set. . .GO!"

The two engines roared, the cars very closely matched as the mid engine Corvair hunkered down. The all wheel drive of the GT-R got power to all four wheels. Nakazato was focused on what was in front of him, just barely could he see the pale yellow Corvair out the corner of his eye. He knew there was a good chance that he could jump out in front of his competitor right now, but Ryosuke had told him otherwise for whatever reason, he had to hold back, it was what he had been told to do. It was almost not enough to tell, but Nakazato lifted off the accelerator, allowing Andy to get out in front. The black GT-R fell in behind the Corvair. Nakazato trying to follow as closely as possible as Andy led the way up through the first S turn, and rocketed past Taber's and the first checkpoint.

Both drivers got on the brakes hard as they approached the right angle turn following the straightaway at Taber's. It had not been long at all since Nakazato had assumed the trailing position but it was already starting to bother him. _ My best chance of passing him is coming here. _ Nakazato thought as they entered the right angle turn. _This next series of turns is such a quick sequence that my GT-Rs ATTESA system is a huge advantage here. Why does Ryosuke want me to wait? _Nakazato thought, clenching his teeth. _ I am not waiting it's stupid to wait! _

As the cars exited the tight turn Nakazato guided his GT-R to the outside getting around the Corvair ad placing him on the inside for the following turn. "I've got you!" Nakazato shouted over the scream of the engine, now all he had to do was maintain his lead and he would win the race. How could Ryosuke argue with him if he won? Sure he had passed early, but it wouldn't matter as long as he won. The drivers wound their way through the next series of turns, a smile began to creep its way across Nakazato's face as Andy tried and tried to get past, but was blocked each time.

•••

"They've just passed the second checkpoint." Matsumoto's voice called over the radio. "Nakazato is in the lead!" He cheered, unaware that Ryosuke had given Nakazato specific instructions to not pass until after the point that Matsumoto monitored. Ryosuke on the other hand was disappointed, Nakazato had completely ignored his instructions, had passed before the second checkpoint, he had let anger and impatience take control again. Somewhere, at the back of his mind though Ryosuke was glad, because subconsciously he had told Nakazato to wait to pass because he knew the stretch following the second checkpoint did not play to the advantage of Nakazato and his GT-R, it was in an area where he thought the cars would be pretty evenly matched. It would have been tougher for Nakazato to pass there and secretly Ryosuke had hoped he wouldn't be able to, so that he would have a chance to race again, not as a challenge to Nakazato. If Nakazato had waited and had been able to pass through that stretch it also would have shown Ryosuke not only that Nakazato was beginning to get some control over his emotions, but it also would have set him apart and shown that he also had the talent to come out on top when he was in an evenly matched car.

But, none of that mattered anymore, Nakazato had ignored him, he would have to understand that his actions had consequences.

•••

The GT-R stuck to the banked turn as the two cars followed each other making for the finish line, giving it all they had. Engines roared, two different and distinct tone, tires squealed, holding on with their last ounces of grip, they were pushed to their limit. Andy moved to the outside, trying, one last time to get past, to get around so he could make it a drag race to the finish, a drag race that he might have a shot at winning. Nakazato didn't allow him the opportunity. Coming out of the turn he floored the accelerator, banging home the shift to fourth gear, the turbos blow off valve snapping viciously. Just ahead was the finish line.

•••

"Nakazato won!" The voice called from the radio and Ryosuke let out an imperceptible sigh. True part of him was disappointed because odds were the both Keisuke and Takumi were going to win the next two races, thus precluding Ryosuke from racing in the tie breaker. On the other hand Takumi was still very much a wild card, nobody could say for sure how he would do in the Tiger, or whether he would be able to control himself.

There was still an outside chance that he would have to race.

The tension was almost tangible now, as the races failed to go according to anybody's plans. Both sides were sure of victory, complete victory in four races, now it was clear to everybody that the best either team could hope for was three out of four victories. There would be a winner, that was for sure, because there was always a winner, the only question now was whether that victory would come in four races instead of five.

As soon as Nakazato and Andy had returned from the other end of the course the next two opponents were line up and ready to race. Keisuke's FD sat at the starting line, small and lithe, like a ballerina, the carbon fiber hood and front splitter combining with the rear mounted wing to give a menacing look, a ballerina that could kill you with the slightest provocation.

Sitting next to it on the street was Brian's Chevelle SS, mostly sharp lines, chiseled with few curves, it was a heavy weight boxer to the FDs ballerina. No matchup with Project D in America so clearly illustrated the difference in thinking between the American muscle car era, and more modern Japanese thinking then these two cars standing side by side, prepared to do battle.

Just as he did before every race Ryosuke walked over to his younger brother's car.

"Hi Aniki." Keisuke said as he saw his brother approaching.

"Hello." Ryosuke responded before kneeling down to be closer to eye level with his younger brother. "Demolish him." Ryosuke said in Japanese.

Keisuke's eyes narrowed.

"_Hai!" _

Ryosuke gave a couple of quick thumps on the roof and walked away. He knew that was all he needed to say to his younger brother.

Brian on the other hand sat in the driver's seat of his Chevelle and palmed the Hurst shift knob. He gazed down at the RX-7 next to him, there was nothing about it that struck him as special. He'd seen all the carbonfiber on other tuner cars before, he'd even seen bigger wings. It was all just chintzy crap to make the car look like it was fast, but it never helped a tuner kid best him before, and it wouldn't now. Especially since Amanda had already taken out one of their drivers, and he was so much better then Amanda, his car was so much better than hers. This was going to be easy.

The motor of the FD thrummed as the starter approached the line, on the other side of the street the motor of Brian's Chevelle rumbled wickedly. Like the other two races the starter raised his hand.

"Ready. . .

"Set . . .

"GO!" He shouted and dripped his hand. The Chevelle's motor roared, the FD's whirred and overlaying it all was the squeal of tires as the two cars launched hard, exploding down the straightaway as if they had been fired from a gun. The Chevelle had massive amounts of torque on its side, allowing Brian to get out to an early lead. Soon the turbos on Keisuke's FD spooled up generating boost, and torque along with it. Now the FD's lighter weight gave it the advantage as Keisuke pulled even with the Chevelle.

_He's going to have to break before me. _ Keisuke thought as they approached the first turn. In front of him he could see the line he was going to take, and he knew that his yellow FD was going to leave and impression. The nose on the Chevelle pitched forward, and that was the sign that Keisuke was looking for, he stayed on the gas just a few heartbeats longer before heal and toe downshifting as he set his car into a perfect drift, tires howling, smoke billowing from all four corners. With a smoothness that would have fooled any spectator into thinking Keisuke had been driving Lake Shore for his whole life, he linked the following turns as gracefully as he had initiated the drift.

"Holy -!" Brian gasped, guiding his car through the same turn by memory. Mouth open, but a split second hesitation forgotten Brian jumped back on the gas knowing that the straightaway in front of Taber's would be one of his best opportunities to pass the Japanese car he suddenly found himself behind. In a split second the accelerator found the floor of the Chevelle, pinning open the butterflies in the carburetor. The crowd was astounded at the speed the two cars carried in front of Taber's. Keisuke held the lead easily, but the black Chevelle wasn't falling back. . .until about half way down the straightaway. Keisuke glanced quickly in the rear view mirror, smirked to himself and downshifted.

Suddenly the gap between the two cars got bigger and it got bigger quickly as the turbos howled, and then snapped sinisterly a few times in quick succession as Keisuke got on the brakes and downshifted to take the turn.

In the Chevelle Brian was playing catch up, amazed that something Japanese could develop the power to pull away from his Chevelle like that. He threw the car into the turn and accelerated trying to regain the ground he had lost, working the big V8 for all it was worth. At least the bright yellow carbon fiber car made a good target. He pushed the gas pedal down again, briefly before putting on the brakes entering the next turn. He cranked over the wheel and downshifted, entering the turn faster then he normally would. The tires squealed in protest.

What Brian had failed to realize was all the work that had gone into Keisuke's FD over the years, and that, now on this stretch of two lane blacktop in America it was probably at its most refined, in all likelihood pushing over 400 horsepower. Maybe it still wasn't in the range of Brian's Chevelle, a car that had one of the highest factory horsepower ratings ever. Even if Brian had thought to look under the hood of the FD, he wouldn't have been able to tell what was there to make power and how serious the car was. Now on his home course he was finding out the hard way.

On the straightaway he gunned it, and started to close the gap on the yellow Mazda. Up ahead Keisuke glanced in the rearview mirror very quickly before getting on the brakes to slow down for another corner. The headlights were still back there, and it looked like they had gotten closer. Keisuke guided his car through an easy right hand turn and headed back downhill, at the bottom the road turned back the opposite direction and climbed another hill, a longer one. Now the Chevelle began to close the gap, as the extra cubic inches added directly to the torque at lower RPM, then the FD reviver rotary.

Both cars straightened the line through a quick series of S turns and roared down the hill towards the banked left hand turn that ran slightly uphill. Keisuke smiled to himself, knowing that very soon he would have another victory. A victory made that much sweeter because Brian had been a loud mouthed punk, it was always nice to show somebody up. Now it was time to really stick it to him. Keisuke smirked as he put his yellow FD into a power oversteer drift, working the steering wheel back and forth and balancing the throttle to maintain a drift angle that balanced speed and angle. The perfect exclamation point to his run.

•••

"Keisuke won!" Takumi heard the voice through the radio, he had known that Keisuke was going to win, he was just as that good, and so was Takumi, but. . . He had lost in Medway, and then damaged his car. Standing next to his borrowed race car, he suddenly felt a lot more pressure. Now, with Keisuke's win Project D had the lead, and if Takumi won that would be the end, but if he lost again. . . If he lost again, Ryosuke would have to race, and as good as Akagi's White Comet was, the truth was that he had not raced competitively in more than a year. Yes it was up to Takumi, he had to win, for Ryosuke, the Team, himself.

•••

Bill looked across the parking lot, he could tell by the way the opposing team was congratulating each other that Brian had lost, and it hadn't been a close race, he was sure of it, the way that car had taken the lead just down at the S turns. Brian was outclassed, his Chevelle was so strong that most cars in the area couldn't run with it in a straight line. Because the first section of Lake Shore Drive was so straight it allowed Brian to take advantage of the acceleration in his Chevelle and jump out to an early lead. This always insured that he had the lead going into the first section, and if he didn't he could quickly gain it back on the straightaway in front of Taber's. What Bill knew was that the Chevelle had led to Bill not developing a full set of skills behind the wheel, he could always rely on the Chevelle's acceleration to pull him out of jams. Bill shook his head, maybe his youngest brother would learn now that he would have to develop other skills, skill that Bill had worked hard to develop, using his Corvette to the fullest of its potential, always wanting to run in the top level of Trans Am, or Touring Car racing in America, not content to take left hand turn after left hand turn.

Now he would have to call on all those skills to face his next opponent. An opponent who wouldn't be driving a Japanese car like the rest of his team, but something that was a real rival for Bill's own Corvette, and might even be more rare, and honest to God Sunbeam Tiger. He'd heard about Tiger's, Carol Shelby's lesser known step sister to the Cobra and GT 350, a serious machine. All the cards were on the table in this one, he had to race to win, just to force a fifth race that he might be able to do it again back to back. He could feel the pressure starting to mount, starting build, his whole body tensed a little before he popped open the door and slid into the driver's seat. Bill palmed the chrome shift knob, pushing back and forth in the neutral gate before depressing the clutch and turning the key, the small Chevy V8 sparked to life, Bill checked all his gauges.

Everything was on the table.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

_Hi Everybody,_

_I know its been a long time since I've updated, but hopefully, I'll be able to get things going a little bit more consistently. I hope I didn't lose anybody because of my absence. I hope everybody enjoys._


	18. Taming the Tiger

Chapter 18 Taming the Tiger.

Ryosuke lit a cigarette as he walked towards the waiting Takumi, instead of last minuet instructions at the starting line he wanted to deliver them in the parking lot. With both cars being convertibles there was a chance that Bill would be able to overhear and try to counter act what Takumi was supposed to do.

"Takumi." Ryosuke said as he approached.

"Yes Ryosuke?" Takumi said, the leader of Project D could see how focused his young driver was.

"I just want to tell you a couple of things before you race."

"Alright."

"First, don't push to hard tonight, you've had such a short time to get used to this car that if you push to hard you could lose control and possibly get in an accident, and Molly was nice enough to let us borrow her car. But you know your limits.

"The second is that your opponent is driving a Corvette with an unaltered body, so it still has small tires, keep that in mind. Good luck."

"Thank you, don't worry I'm going to win this." Takumi said, that same competitive edge back in his voice, even if his confidence hadn't fully returned he at least seemed to be confident enough, there was a very good chance he was going to win, and with that attitude he wasn't going to lose before the race had even started. Takumi opened the door and climbed into the Tiger. The 302 lit with a rumble and settled down to a raucous idle across the parking lot a similar sound echoed, with the added layer of sound from the mechanical fuel injection.

In a few minuets the two cars were lined up at the start, two of the closest truest sports cars that America had produced in the 1960s, the others being the Cobra, and the GT 350. The two cars looked as if they were from different world, the swoopy curvy almost bullet like lines of the Stingray Corvette. On the other hand, the Tiger was much more conservatively styled, nice, but safe it even had vestigial fins left over the from the 1950s styling trends. Underneath the two cars were just as different, even thought they both had V8 engines close to the same displacement. The Tiger had a five speed, where the Corvette had a four speed. At the rear the Corvette had an independent suspension, and the Tiger had a live axle augmented by Fox body Mustang quadrashocks. Even their engines, which appeared so similar at first glance were different, the Tiger used a four barrel carburetor, and the Corvette had mechanical fuel injection.

Takumi looked over at the Corvette, and then back ahead, the motor rumbled, he palmed the shifter and felt the finger grooves on the back side of the wood rimmed steering wheel. The gauges glowed as he gave them a quick check. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach as he waited. This was going to be his first real test since Medway. Takumi didn't have long to think about it, as the starter moved out from the side of the road, raised his hand in the air and. . .

"Ready. . .

"Set. . .

"GO!"

The two V8s roared, tires squealed as the two cars launched into the night. The two cars stayed close to even as they charged down the straightaway. While the Corvette had more power, the Tiger, was lighter at 2600 pounds, this allowed Takumi to keep pace with the Corvette, the gearing the transmission also helped. Takumi slammed home the shift to third, out the corner of his eye he could see his opponents car, his eyes narrowed, focused up ahead on the turn that led them into the S turn. The Corvette got ahead in the turn, he had the inside line. Takumi watched the two little round brake lights, as he fell in behind them, and followed through the S turn. Now that he was behind the Corvette he could see what Ryosuke had been talking about, skinny tires. Skinny tires meant less grip. _I can get him under braking and in the turns if I can keep the rear end in line. _Takumi thought.

The two cars exploded onto the straightaway in front of Taber's, spectators cheered from the parking lot as the two cars roared by. Takumi followed close behind the Corvette, he knew what he needed to do, he knew the limitations those small tires put on the performance of the car. They affected every aspect, it couldn't accelerate to its full potential because the motor could easily overwhelm the tires, he couldn't corner as hard as the suspension would allow because the tires would lose traction before the suspension was overwhelmed, and they were easier to lock up under braking.

Just a few seconds before Takumi had to get on the brakes to take the right hand turn following Taber's he pulled out from behind Bill's Corvette. In the Corvette Bill jumped on the brakes, Takumi and the Tiger sailed past before he too had to get on the brakes. The whole thing took all of a handful of seconds before Takumi had secured the lead. He turned in and accelerated through the turn, Bill following close behind in his Corvette.

"Son of a bitch, that was a good move, nobodies had the balls to try and take me like that." Bill said, and he charged after the little convertible. The two cars followed closely through the banked left hand turn, accelerating hard through the turn and up the next hill. At the top there was another turn to the right, this time. Now that he had taken the lead Takumi knew he could play it a little safer. On the brakes turn in, and accelerate, he had the grip the Corvette didn't. Takumi didn't want to risk the car. Like Ryosuke said Molly was nice enough to lend it to him for the races. He also didn't want to lose the race because he used too much gas and lost traction, he had to play at least a little safe because he still wasn't used to the car completely.

Suddenly the Corvette was next to him and pulling ahead.

•••

"The Corvette regained the lead!" Came the voice over the radio. Ryosuke glanced over at his car, his white FC, it sat there ready, but quiet. He shook his head a little bit, a minor gesture that others wouldn't even notice. _There's still a lot left to race. _He thought. _Takumi can still win this. He's also taking care off the car. _He was coming along, it looked like, now he just needed to win this race. As much as Ryosuke wanted his own opportunity to race tonight Takumi needed to win, for his self confidence so he could overcome that lose to Mike.

"Come on Takumi." Ryosuke heard Molly say from close by. Mike stood next to her, smoking a cigarette and staring off in the direction he knew the race was going on.

•••

Takumi gunned it down the straightaway in pursuit of the Corvette. _I have to go faster. I have to win this race, to prove to Ryosuke that I belong here. I have to push harder. _

"I'm not going to let you by me the same way twice." Bill said aloud as he snicked the shifter into fourth. He setup for the next turn on the inside. _If you're going to pass me you're going to have to do it on the outside. You're going to have to earn it._

The race was almost over. It would only be another minute. Takumi knew he had to make a move. He saw Bill was setup to block the inside line denying Takumi the ability to take him under breaking again. _If he's not going to give me the inside I'll take the outside. _His eyes narrowed. The next turn was a slight left hander Takumi put the peddle down and charged forward, taking the outside line. He tapped the brakes quickly and turned in, and slowly he began to pull even with the red Corvette. In this turn the Corvette's skinny tires didn't matter as much in the gradual turn. By the exit they were even.

Both cars roared as they accelerated down the strip of black asphalt, it gradually turned back to the right, giving Takumi the inside line. _I got him, I got him. _ Takumi thought, he knew Bill would have to brake sooner. Takumi wasn't planning on braking at all. It was the last turn, his last chance to take the lead. The banking was up ahead, he could see it, the nose of the Corvette pitched down, Takumi pushed the gas down taking advantage of the Tiger's break away torque and setting the car into a power oversteer drift, the tire squealed, the engine roared, the Tiger exploded across the finish line.

•••

"Takumi won! Takumi won!" Matsumoto's voice screamed over the radio. The Project D member who were at the starting line began to celebrate. Ryosuke was glad the kid had done well, he had adjusted to the car and overcome his difficulty in dealing with his lose to Mike. But now he, the White Comet of Akagi would have to wait a little bit longer to start his comeback.

In a few minutes the blue Tiger rolled back into the smack parking lot. Takumi climbed out with a massive smile on his face, the members of Project D walked over and began patting him on the back.

"I really like that car." Takumi said as he walked back among his teammates.

"Way to go Takumi." Ryosuke said as he walked back among the teammates.

"Good work kid." Mike congratulated Takumi.

"Thanks," the young ace responded, "and thanks for letting me borrow you car." He said turning to Molly.

"Hey don't worry about it." She responded, "As long as it helped you win."

"So, you want to go for a cruise tomorrow in the Cobra?"

Takumi considered the offer for a moment. "Sure, I think that would be alright.

It wasn't long before the spectators and teams had cleared out from Lake Shore Drive, headed home after an exciting evening of racing, having the privilege to see one the finest street racing teams in Japan, on the street of America. Many didn't know how lucky they were to witness what they had seen that night. Back at Stevie's house the members of Project D were still excited about being able to pull out the victory against some stiff competition. In sixteen races in America the members of Project D had only lost two, a very good record, and a very good way to start their expedition.

Outside of the car Takumi seemed to return to his usual space shot self, but inside he was still very excited, and very relieved. He had won tonight, because of his skills, because he was able to pinpoint his opponent's weakness, and because he had a car that was up to the task. The 86 would have made a good weapon, it had the handling to be able to keep up with the Corvette, but the acceleration might have left something to be desired.

Now that he had won though, it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, the feeling that had predominated so much of his thoughts before the race, the feeling that he wasn't good enough to be on this expedition with Project D, the he wasn't good enough to be teammates with the Takahashi brothers. Now it was all gone, he had earned his keep. He had proven once again, to his team, to Ryosuke, that he was one of the best street racers in Japan.

Takumi took a deep breath, it was all very draining, and exhilarating at the same time, not only had he won, but he also got to do it in a car that he might never see another one of in his entire life, let alone drive, a car the illustrated the difference in thought between Japanese and American automakers to him. Molly's Tiger wasn't just a tool that he had borrowed and used to earn another win for Project D and himself, it was a car that he knew was something more, something special. It represented a fear of his that had been lurking at the back of his mind, and deep in his soul for a long time, that the 86, even in its heavily modified form just wasn't going to continue to stack up against other cars favorably. The fear that he would soon have to move onto something else, something with more power. . .something other than the 86. But where to start? There were so many aspect to take into account, so many things would have to be considered before he finally made his decision. He would have to start thinking, because chances were that the competition wasn't going to get any easier.

•••

_Do I really want to race again? _ Ryosuke thought to himself as he sat alone in Stevie's living room. _Does it make any sense? Could I really get anywhere racing, or would I wind up like my parents predicted, struggling forever to make it while I could have had a successful career as a doctor? Why do they have to pay so much attention to me? Why do they have to put all this pressure on me? Why can't they just leave me alone and let me be myself? If I decide to race it will disgrace them, it will dishonor them. But if I became famous as a driver, or a team manager, wouldn't that restore their honor, what if racing allowed me not only to increase my families honor but that of Japan as well? Would that not makeup for not becoming a doctor? And what are the odds of me achieving either of those? _His supercomputer brain didn't take long to figure out that his chances were not very good. _I can achieve anything with hard work, analysis, and study._

_ My goal isn't to race, my goal in coming to America was to make sure that Keisuke and Takumi would be able to succeed at the next level, to give them that last little bit of training before they have to make the move, I didn't come here so that I could race. My focus is on them, I can't race. Besides, if I lose my first race it could shake the team's confidence in me beyond repair. I'll just have to be content to guide my brother and Takumi._

Ryosuke's internal dialogue continued, as he weighed again and again his option, the possibilities, and their end conclusions. He ran down every angle mentally, thinking of ways, or events that would cause them to change, but in the end all he succeeded in doing was making himself realize that he was much more like Jimmy in Quadrophenia then he thought he was. Despite the team, and despite his brother, he was extremely alone, none of them could understand the unique pressure that his parent had placed on him. The collection of young men he had brought with him from Japan all had the luxury of not having to live up to their families unreasonable expectations, they could all be who they wanted, and what they wanted. Ryosuke, the White Comet, was alone in his familial obligation, and not only did the pressure alienate him from his parent, but the pressure made him envy his brother and his friends, it was something that they couldn't understand. His parents, by ignoring his ambition to be involved with motorsports were letting him down. In a that big farm house filled with people, Ryosuke was alone. He sat there on the couch, elbows on knees, fingers rubbing his temples as he felt the pressure build, he needed a cigarette.

"How's it going Mike?" Ryosuke asked as he walked out onto the porch.

"Not to bad, you?" Mike said offering Ryosuke his pack of Lucky Strikes.

"Thank you." Ryosuke said as he took one from the pack, he had his own, but was glad he would get the extra kick of the unfiltered Lucky. "Not to bad, I'm glad we won tonight." Ryosuke finally answered Mike's question after taking his first drag.

"Yeah you guys did good tonight. I kind of knew you were going to come out on top. To tell you the truth we raced them last summer and cleaned them out pretty easily, and you guys beat us. So. . ." Mike shrugged, leaving the sentence unfinished. Ryosuke heard the pride creeping into Mike's voice as well.

"Hmm." Ryosuke said, exhaling smoke out his nostrils. "Kenta didn't perform the way I thought he would, and Nakazato ignored my instructions. Keisuke and Takumi, they performed exactly as I thought they would."

"You wanted to race tonight, didn't you?" Mike said with a smile. Ryosuke didn't answer right away. He remembered all those thought that had been coursing through his mind not that long ago, all the reasons why he shouldn't race, all the reasons that he needed to eventually return to Japan and take up his fathers practice, but all that was subverted by his desire, deep down, to race.

"Yes I did." He finally admitted. "For the past year I've been so focused on helping my brother and Takumi make it to the next level, and my studies that I didn't realize how much I missed racing, how much it was, and still is a part of me. The past month, being in this country and only having to worry about prepairing the team. Without having to study medicine I realize how much I still want to race."

_Can you see the real me, can ya? Can ya?_

"I don't know." Ryosuke said, "Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, maybe I'm supposed to stop and become a doctor."

"Uhhuh, and I should have gone to the moon." Mike said. _If he doesn't race soon, he's never going to start again, and he would regret it if he never took his chance. Besides, I'd like to see how I stack up against him. I mean I beat Takumi, and Takumi beat him, right?_

"Let's race."

"What?" Ryosuke asked, in what for him passed for surprise.

"Let's race, you and me, nobody else, right now." Mike said.

"Really?" Ryosuke asked skeptically.

"Yes." Mike answered a little impatiently. "Just a friendly race, think of it kind of like a warm up for your further American encounters." _Yeah right a warm up. I want to see what you're made of White Comet._

Neither of the two team leaders said anything for a handful of very long seconds.

"Alright, a friendly race." Ryosuke finally said, putting out his cigarette.

Within minutes the white FC and the electric green Cobra stood next to each other on Lake Shore Drive. The engine of the FC thrummed away, while in the other land the Cobra rumbled. The two drivers looked at each other. Mike stabbed the gas once quickly, making the engine roar briefly. Ryosuke responded with two quick shots, the 13B screaming, turbos snapping viciously. Suddenly engines roared, tires squealed, and the two cars took off down the straightaway. . .


	19. Lasting Impressions

Chapter 19. Lasting Impressions.

The next morning everybody slept late, it was only natural after a night of hard racing. Takumi woke up with the sun shinning on his face, making his cheek warm. A cool morning breeze blew in through the window, bringing with it the scent of New England summer, chickadees sand from the trees and power lines. Takumi lay awake in bed, for a few minutes, relaxing, feeling, feeling better then he had felt for a couple of weeks. After winning the previous night it was if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, the pressure to win, to drive faster then he had ever done before was gone. No doubt about it, he still wanted to win, and he wanted to win badly, but that pressure, the feeling at the back of his mind that he wasn't good enough, that he wasn't fast enough had disappeared. He felt good.

The real question was whether or not the 86 was going to be able to carry him the rest of the way. He loved the little car, more then he would admit to anybody, but was becoming apparent that it was going to be fast enough for long. Even with 240 horsepower and the suspension tuning and lightweight body parts that had been added the cars inherent limitations as a sporty economy car were becoming apparent. He needed more power, something that would be hard to pack into a small motor that was very close to the limits of its performance. Molly's Tiger popped into his mind, he really liked the little car, but he wouldn't be able to afford one, and the tax on it in Japan would be absurd. He thought about some other car, but he wasn't sure what he would like, all he knew was that he wanted something light, without turbochargers and rear wheel drive. Quickly those thoughts vanished as he remembered winning the night before, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before spreading into a full grin.

It was going to be a good day indeed.

Everybody was already sitting around the table with cups of coffee in hand when Takumi got downstairs. Soon there was a cup of coffee in his hand too as he stood near the table.

"Nice of you to finally join us." Mike said sarcastically, Takumi shrugged. "Let me know when you want to go for a ride in the Cobra, because I do have to leave for home today."

"Alright, when were you planning on leaving?" Takumi asked.

"Umm, I was hoping to leave about four." Mike answered.

"Noon sound good?"

"Sure." Mike said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Before long it was noon and Takumi was standing next to the electric green and white Cobra, it seemed so low to the ground, like it would be tough to get out of again.

"You ready?" Mike asked as he walked around behind the car to the driver's side.

"Of course." He answered, before popping open the door and carefully lowering himself down into the car. It was so different, sitting almost down on the ground, with his legs out in front of him in the narrow footwell.

The shifter looks like it would be difficult to use." Takumi said.

"Nah, you get used to it." Mike said as he worked it back and forth in the neutral gate. He slotted the key into the dashboard, pressed the gas pedal to the floor and turned the key. The motor cranked and fired an instant latter, erupting in a cacophony of exhaust, and air being sucked into the motor through Weber carburetors. Takumi was astounded at how loud the motor was, but then again, the exhaust was exiting just a couple of feet below his ears.

"Wow, that's loud." Takumi said, he had to raise his voice to be heard.

"You get used to it, and boy doesn't it sound good.." Takumi nodded, as a small grin began to appear on his face, he could feel the beat of the motor in the pit of his stomach, he skin began to tickle with excitement. The cockpit was a little different then what he was used to, it was very basic, there was black carpeting on the floor and transmission tunnel, the dash was black, with black faced gauges populating the center of the dashboard, a big tachometer sat in close to the perfect position next to and above the steering column, the gauge angled so that the redline was close to the top. On the opposite side was the speedometer that had a needle that climbed counterclockwise.

"Ready?" Mike asked, looking right at Takumi, the car was so small that their shoulders were almost touching.

"Ready." Takumi responded, Mike smiled, a mischievous smile.

"Alright." Mike pulled up the reverse lock out and slotted the shifter into reverse. It was loud, but as the two drove up Skillings Corner Road, they weren't going fast. In a few minutes, after another couple of back roads they came to an intersection with Route 4. There was no stop light to let them onto the main road where traffic whizzed by at 55-60 miles per hour or more. Takumi could see that some of the people slowed down to look at Mike's car, some would wave, give the thumbs up, some honked. _That almost never happens when I'm in the 86. _ Takumi thought to himself.

Mike leaned forward, looking up the road, watching for a long enough gap in traffic. He glanced at Takumi quickly. "Here, hold this for me." Mike said, taking off his old Red Sox hat. Mike edged up a little bit. A second latter Takumi was shoved back in his seat with more force then he'd ever felt in a car, the engine roared, and the tires squealed as the Cobra slid sideways out onto Route 4. In a second Mike had straightened out the slide as they continued to blast down Route 4. Mike ripped off a couple of shifts before backing off, the exhaust cackled and bellowed. Again Mike looked over at Takumi, his smile was even bigger this time it was something different, pure joy.

"God I love this car." He said, and laughed a little to himself. "It still has more to give, but if I'd gone flat out we would have been speeding in second gear."

Takumi began to smile.

•••

"Quite the operation you got going here Mr. Takahashi." William said in his thick southern accent. "You boys did good last night."

"Thank you." Ryosuke said politely. "You're from North Carolina, aren't you?" He asked cautiously.

"Yup," William smiled in response. "I'd actually better be getting back down there soon."

"Where in North Carolina did you say you were from?" Ryosuke asked.

William didn't respond right away, just looked at him with that lop sided grin, and that sparkle in his eye. "I know where this is goin' son. You want to know if there's any street racing down there, and what the competitions like."

"Yes, I would like to know." Ryosuke said matter-of-factly.

"Well alright then." William's smile got a little bit broader, a little bit bigger. "I live in Denton North Carolina, the main place where people race is on Highway 47, just north of town, they call it the Shammel Highway."

_Denton, that's where Sung said he was. _Ryosuke thought to himself. "What's the road like?"

"One lane in each direction, its like a longer more challenging version of Lake Shore Drive. There's a lot of good competition down there, because not only do you have Denton, but there's a couple of other towns that produce some drivers. The fastest on Shammel before I left was a black '73 Corvette. Some kid cam out of the blue and knocked out the second fastest which had been a Fiat X1/9. Umm, the kid, he was driving an old Mustang I think." William answered both of Ryosuke's follow up questions before he even had to ask.

_That's pretty much the same thing Sung told me, there really must be something going on down there._

"Well?" William asked when Ryosuke met his gaze again after being lost in thought.

"Would you mind if we followed you back to Denton?"

"Of course not, I was wonderin' when you were gonna ask." William said, again with a broad smile. "You boys may have to wait to get a chance at the leaders right now, but we'll see.

"I hope not, but we'll see." Ryosuke echoed.

•••

Ryosuke walked over to Mike as he finished loading his Cobra onto the trailer, he ratcheted the strap one more time to make sure that the car was secured. He turned around and sat on the fender of the trailer and pulled out his pack of Lucky Strikes. He offered the pack to Ryosuke before lighting one himself.

"How's it going?" Mike asked.

"Pretty good, just getting as ready as we can. Enjoying the day off really." Ryosuke answered as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"That was pretty fun last night, wasn't it?" Mike asked with a smile.

"Yes, it was." Ryosuke smiled back himself, thinking of some of what happened last night, when he and Mike had their own little race.

"So do you guys know where you're going next?" Mike asked.

"Yes, we're going to follow William back down to Denton North Carolina, and see what's happening down there."

"Cool, I've been down there once or twice, never brought the Cobra with me though, its decent for long distance travelling, but I just get worried sometimes. If I remember correctly they have some pretty good competition down there, well at least they did last time I was down there."

"That's what I keep hearing." Ryosuke confirmed. "I know someone whose down in that area whose been telling me that, as well as hearing it from William."

"So what are _you _going to do?" Mike asked.

"I'm not sure yet." Ryosuke said, and he exhaled smoke. "It's tough, I don't know. Until recently it was all so clear, I was only supposed to be here as long as I my father didn't catch on. It was really to help get my brother and Takumi to the next level, to set them up to become professional racers, but now I don't know."

"I dunno Ryosuke. It just seems a little odd that you would go through all the trouble to come to America to find street racers. I'm sure there are other places in Japan that you could have found racers, and maybe even moved up to low level amateur racing."

"I know, I thought about that too."

"It just seems like you're trying to get away from something else. I dunno, maybe I'm just over thinking."

Ryosuke looked over at Mike, someone he was beginning to think more of as a friend. Not that long ago he had been a competitor, somebody that Ryosuke and Project D had been trying to beat, but now, after what he had done for the team, and what he continued to do for Ryosuke. He was really starting to think of Mike as a friend.

"I don't know." Ryosuke said.

"Well whatever happens, good luck, and I hope we cross paths again, and stay in touch, I want to know if all this stuff works itself out for you."

"I will." Ryosuke said, "and thanks."

•••

Molly and Mike had left late Sunday. They had wished everybody luck, and Molly had even given Takumi a hug before they left. Now late in the afternoon on Monday, Keisuke looked on as the team loaded up the van to begin their trek south. He'd earned his cigarette break. The parts for Takumi's car had arrived on schedule, and Matsumoto had worked hard to make sure they were in the car right.

The one thing Keisuke couldn't understand was why go straight to North Carolina? Why bypass so much area that could be hiding good competition? It didn't make any sense, unless Sung had told his older brother something. He would find out when Project D got down there, and continued to dominate.

_What's down there Aniki, what's so important that we have to go straight to North Carolina? What aren't you telling me Aniki?_

Initial D Tora! Tora! Tora! Vol. 3.

Ryosuke leads Project D to North Carolina, searching for more competition and an old friend as he still tries to figure out what his future will hold. What they find in North Carolina is more then they had bargained for as Takumi, Keisuke and the rest of Project D try to cope with as much talent as they've seen so far in America.

See you in the next chapter!


End file.
